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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chap.J^.MlopyrigM No.._ 

Shelf._ 




UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

































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THE MASONRY OF 
THE BIBLE, 

A HISTORIC, BIOGRAPHIC, AND CRITICAL TREATISE ON, ANI) 
EXPOSITION OF, THE PRINCIPLES OF ANCIENT CRAFT 
MASONRY, AS THEY APPEAR IN THE LITERAL 
READING OF 

THE GREAT LIGHT OF MASONRY, 

WHICH IS 

THE HOLY BIBLE. 

/ . 

/ 

BY / 

REV. EDWARD FRANKLIN HURD, 

; 

WARSAW, KENTUCKY. 


WITH A PERSONAL INTRODUCTION 

BY 

“COMPANION” ROBERT R. RUSSELL, 

WARSAW, KENTUCKY. 


LOUISVILLE, KY. 

CHAS. T. DEARING, 

1898. 







9251 


COPYRIGHT, 1898, 

By E. F. HURD, Warsaw, Ky, 



TWOCOPlEo RECEIVED. 

^ \o \ 


1898 . 


1 




C/s) 

fe- 

TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

The Author’s Preface,. 5 

An Introduction by Companion Robert R. Russell,. 11 

CHAPTER I. 

* The Light of The East,. 13 

CHAPTER II. 

From the Tabernacle to The Temple,. . 61 

CHAPTER III. 

The Building of The Temple,.107 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Destruction of The Temple,.149 

CHAPTER V. 

The Eastern Star..183 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Masonry of the Gospel of Christ, .211 

CHAPTER VII. 


A 


The Result of Masonry, 


256 













AUTHOR’S PREFACE. 


There is a Reason for everything that is in an*actual 
existence in the natural world, and it is a universally 
acknowledged truism, that “ in the great economy of 
Nature, there is nothing lost.” The Rains descend from 
the regions of cloudland, and refresh the earth in gen¬ 
tle showers of summer temperature or Beat fiercely 
upon the bosom of the ocean in the blinding storms 
of midwinter on the broad Atlantic, and surging in 
gigantic billows toward the “Cliffs of Albion,” be ap¬ 
parently lost and engulfed in the Maelstrom, never to 
rise again. Still every drop of rain, whether the wel¬ 
come visitor of the torrid summer Cloud Burst, or the 
gentle shower of Springtime that lifts the head of 
the blue violet, and kisses the sweet petals of the 
rare forget-me-not! or yet the Winter Storm, in all the 
grand elemental power of Nature set at war. Yet it 
is not lost, but changed by its conditional environ¬ 
ments it again is elevated to its birthplace in the 
Clouds only to repeat the grand transformation scene 
until time shall be' no more. When every drop of 
water in the clouds of the visible firmament above, 
amd every pearly drop of the seas of this lower 
Earth, weighed and an account given, by the accurate 
forces of natural laws which have been issued from 
the Creative Spirit which rules supremely over all 
things in Heaven and in Earth. There is a Reason 
for Religion , which is the name given by man, to the 


VI 


PREFACE. 


earnest desire within the soul to lead a higher life. 
And in the pages of this volume there will be found 
a brief description of the early attempts of the human 
race to find the True God , and of their gradual prog¬ 
ress, from the lowest level which we are able to con¬ 
ceive of, to an ever-increasing area of religious and 
social* light, from the rude Altars of Stone, in the wilds 
of Nature to the Altar of Gold in the Temple of Solo- 
mon , in the City of Jerusalem. 

And the Reason, which thus developed man from the 
loivest to a higher grade of life and education is found 
to be fully explained in the light which came upon 
the people of Israel when the Law of the Ten Command¬ 
ments was given to Moses from the hand of God, and the 
subsequent progress of the Hebrew Nation, remarka¬ 
ble in its realistic sense of a race enslaved, liberated 
by a miracle, and guided by divine providence through 
a wilderness journey of many years, to the proud and 
lofty position of a Nation of power, whose ’God was 
the Allwise Creator, whose King was appointed by that 
God, and whose Temple of Worship and Ceremonial 
thereof, was designed by the same God, and by His su¬ 
preme directions the entire fabric of Jewish Religion 
was Created and governed by the Reasoning Mind of 
The Spirit that created all things known to natural 
sense. There was certainly a Reason for all these 
events which have been faithfully chronicled in the an¬ 
nals of the Past, and as faithfully preserved up to 
the present Age. There was a Reason for the An¬ 
gels appearing to Abram, and telling him of the future 
of his family. There was a Reason for Jacob , who was 
renamed Israel, (as Abram was renamed Abraham, 
“ the friend of God,”) to pronounce upon his death- 


PREFACE. 


vii 


bed the special benedictive prophecy upon Judah, 
The Lion, for The Lion Tribe was to lead the people 
of God, and Judah was to be the family from whence the 
Law Giver should spring. Shiloh, “ the Prince of Peace 
was to be born of The House of David of the Tribe of 
Judah , and was to prevail over all the enemies of The 
Kingdom and people of God. And it was because of 
this Reason that the Tabernacle was built in the Wil¬ 
derness, that the Ark was placed within it, that the 
Ark teas preserved by Divine power, that the Temple 
was Built, and the Ark placed therein, that the Cere¬ 
monial was instituted by Solomon by the Special com¬ 
mand of God, which was blessed upon its first ob¬ 
servance with the presence of Deity, in response to 
the Obedience of the people and the dedicatory prayer 
of the wise King of Israel. There was also a Reason 
for its Destruction, which had been alread y foretold by 
the prophets of God in the event of the disobedience of 
the people, or of their neglect to follow His Law as it 
had been faithfully copied by Moses in the hidden Book 
of the Law of God, the Captivity w T as also in accordance 
with Reason, for God had promised that the people 
should be captured by their enemies, because of their 
sin and their voluntary insult to the God of Israel by 
their shameless idolatry of the heathen deities. The 
Restoration of the Temple was also reasonable, for God 
had promised that after a period of Captivity in a for¬ 
eign land, that the people should return to Jerusalem, 
and should rebuild “ the waste places and again institute 
the Worship of the True God in the Restored Temple, and 
the attempt of Nehemiali and of Zerrubbabel signal¬ 
ized by a devotion that has never been equaled in 
the history of Religion. There was a Reason in the 


viii 


PREFACE. 


long Silence of God during the time which elapsed from 
the Restoration of the Temple until the Death of Judas 
Maccabeus, which practically finished the History of 
Judah as a people, and at this time the entrance of 
Roman power into Judea, still further confirms in a His¬ 
toric Light the narrative of The Bible, and in the ap¬ 
pearance of The Herodian Temple and the petty reign of 
that tyrannical provincial ruler, Herod. There was a 
Reason! for as Caesar Augustus sent out his famous 
edict of Taxation of the World and gathered Judea 
within his provincial range, So it was that Bethle¬ 
hem Judah came within his province, and Joseph and 
Mary were obliged to leave their Galilean Home and 
travel to Bethlehem during the exact and critical pe¬ 
riod when the Messiah of Judah should be born, and the 
prophecy of ancient time was thus fully and graphically 
fulfilled in the Advent of Jesus in Bethlehem, and the Sign 
of the Eastern Star. There was a Reason in the visit of 
the Wise Men from the East, and of the simple Shepherds 
of Judea, because the Wisdom and Strength of the learned 
was linked with the Beauty of the simple minds and 
humble ivorsliip of the poor. There was a Reason in the 
coming of John the Baptist “ sent from God,” the forerun¬ 
ner of The Deliverer of Judah and the acquiescence of 
Christ in the Baptismal Rite was a proof of the reasona¬ 
bleness of the Scripture prophecies of the past, and There 
was a Reason in the Crucifixion of The Christ, for it was 
the final Sacrifice of which all the others had been but 
types and in the Resurrection of Christ there was a 
Reason showing Man in a Spiritual Light and prom¬ 
ise of a glorious future, and there was also a Reason in 
the preservation of The Records of All this History of 
God's dealings with His People, as there was in the pre- 


PREFACE. 


IX 


serration of The Ark and The Book of The Law, and as 
the Levites guarded the sacred Book in the days of 
Joshua and the Judges, as Ezra copied and kept sacred 
the Book of the Law in the days of the Captivity, and 
as Judas Maccabeus fought for the preservation of the 
Temple and the Book until a soldier’s death liberated the 
soul of the great “ Hammerer ” of Judah, so there is an 
Order of Men who have come of their own free will, Men 
who have pledged devotion to God and The Bible from 
the days of Solomon and Hiram until the present 
time, Men who have Kept The Great Light blazing upon 
their Altars, Men of iron will power, who in the early 
days cut out the way for the free passage of The Bible 
of God with Keen Swords, Men who fought for the City 
of Jerusalem, Men who handed the traditions down by 
word of mouth and mystic sign, Men who met and con¬ 
sulted The Open Bible, when every church on earth save 
one, had lost its great light of The Holy Bible, Men, who 
like Samuel, the temple child, saiv the loaning light of 
Christianity and The Holy Bible, and flew to its instanta¬ 
neous relief! and this Order of Ancient Masonry! like 
the Operative Craft of olden Temple Times, is Systematic 
and Practical in all its business and laws of govern¬ 
ment. Masonry has ever defended the Holy Bible from 
the invidious or open attacks of its enemies, and will 
never suffer the infidelity of a Cavilling World to in any 
manner reflect a shadow upon its pages that are 
radiant with Truth, as it is revealed from the great 
“Law Giverf and thus The Holy Bible is especially 
reverenced by the true Mason because of its inestimable 
valuation as The Book of Masonic History, The Principles 
of Masonry as set forth by The Grand Master, and 
copied by the First Grand Secretary, Moses, are the Eter- 


X 


PREFACE. 


nal Principles of Friendship, Morality, and Brotherly 
Love, and when these principles are practiced in a faith¬ 
ful adherence to the Law of The Holy Bible, The Ma¬ 
son is “ Not far from the Kingdom for a Mason will 
love The Holy Bible, and will “Search the Scriptures 
and a Masonic Searcher for more light will always find 
it in The Holy Bible. And in conclusion I repeat the 
assertion, that this Book will be criticised perhaps un¬ 
favorably, (“ and in respect to its scholarly compo¬ 
sition, deservedly so,”) but as to the living Facts 
gleaned from the great harvest field of the elysian 
dominions of religious, political, national, mecliceval, 
ancient, or primeval History, It is true! and beyond all 
criticism, favorable or otherwise, The Bible is the Law of 
The Living God, and Masonry is the Ancient Order 
founded by God and given to Moses for the preservation 
of That Law of God, and The Masonic Lodge, if it be 
worthy of the name, whether in the superb Temple of 
the great Metropolis, or the rude Khan of the Soudan¬ 
ese Desert, is an Organized Body of Men who Believe in 
the Holy Bible, who are taught by its light to walk the 
earth as Kings of the East! Bowing Only at the name of 
Deity, and before the Altar of the Holy Bible, The Great 
Light of Masonry. And with this preface I leave the 
reader, and may your patlnvay ever be lighted by The 
Masonry of The Bible, is the earnest wish of your Ma¬ 
sonic friend, 



PERSONAL INTRODUCTION, BY ROBERT R. 
RUSSELL. 


This volume of Masonic History is the result of a 
careful and exhaustive study of the Ancient Scrip¬ 
ture in the search of more light in Masonry by one 
who is known to be an earnest, zealous Royal Arch 
Mason, and also as an humble follower of the Christ 
in the practice of the grand principles of a Christian 
Mason. As a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, 
he is well known in this part of Kentucky, and is in 
every way qualified for the magnificent undertaking 
of a presentation of the Bible Facts! contained in the 
description of “The Masonry of the Bible.” 

And furthermore I take great pleasure in saying 
that the Masonic Author is a special friend of my¬ 
self—that we have sat in Lodge together, and have 
shared in the Mystic Rites of the Sublime Degree 
at the Raising of a Master Mason, and by this fact, and 
many private interviews, I know him to be a Mason of 
the Royal Arch Degree, a companion of Napoleon 
Chapter No. 51, of Napoleon, Gallatin County, Ky., 
and I also know him as a Christian Mason, from the 
fact that he is the beloved pastor of the Warsaw Bap¬ 
tist Church, of which I have the honor to be a mem¬ 
ber, and for these reasons I would earnestly recom- 
;mend “The Masonry of the Bible ” to every one that 



xii 


INTRODUCTION. 


is interested in the actual facts of historic Masonry 
as it is recorded in the Great Light, which is the 
Holy Bible, the word of God, and I consider it a valu¬ 
able addition to the Records of the Order. 



Warsaw, Ky., January 28, 1898. 


CHAPTER I. 


THE LIGHT OF THE EAST. 

A veil of mystery and silence envelops the frigid 
region of the North. The North! with its snow-clad 
wastes, relieved by mountain peaks wdiose icy crowns 
reflect the glittering colors of arctic sunlight upon a 
scene of Nature in the burial robe of atmospheric 
death. 

The frozen sea, whose borderland is strewn with 
wreckage of daring spirits, within whose breasts 
there lived a hope of wresting nature’s secret from its 
ice-bound casket, that land of mystery, whose South¬ 
ern bound is a farewell to civilization, whose Eastern 
circle embraces the far Northern meridian of the en¬ 
tire Globe, whose Northern boundary is limited by the 
perfect balance of the Axis Poles of Earth. 

This dark and unknown land, whose Midnight Sun 
arises amid crystal battlements, surmounting which 
the Day God lifts the glittering standard of the 
Aurora Borealis. This is the land within whose dark 
recesses there lives a germ of Vital Force—a Force! 
which with unerring precision points the needle of 
the mariner's compass toward the realm of Arctic 
snow — a Force! that compels the Ocean Currents to 


14 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


yield to its Magnetic Power ; the Polar Circle ! Con¬ 
trolling within itself the Centrifugal and the Cen¬ 
tripetal forces of Electric Motive Power; that Elec¬ 
tric and irresistible Submarine current of the Polar 
Circle, which, by its powerful impetus in Ages that 
are now forgotten, transported mighty Trees of 
Tropic climes, together with contemporaneous Bird 
and Animal life to the desolate shores of that Ocean 
of the North, within whose mysterious depths the 
Gulf Stream was evolved through the mechanism of 
Nature, by the action of Electric Force. Such is the 
Light of the North ! A dreary prison *)f snow and ice 
Tenanted by the Degenerate Race of Prehistoric Man 
of the Glacial Age. The Darkness of Mystery en¬ 
velops the frozen North. 

“Westward! the Star of Empire takes its way,” is a 
Universal Motto. The resistless march of Civilization 
has demonstrated this. A Truth ! a half century be¬ 
fore the Christian Era, the Roman Arms had com¬ 
pleted the conquest of the Known World, the Ruling 
Spirit resolved to travel the highway of an illimitable 
Sea, which was yet to be cleft by the steel-prowed 
galleys of the mighty Roman, Julius Cassar. Outward! 
Northwestward! swept the Roman Galleys. “The 
white cliffs of Albion ” formed the blue horizon line. 
The savage islanders viewed the strangers from a far 
country as the Roman Standard entered Britain; 
Fifty-four years before The Christian Era. The 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


15 


Roman Empire Began the Westward March of Con¬ 
quest. For nearly Fifteen Hundred years the British 
Islands were the Western Gates of Civilization; 
Roman power and despotic rule had declined and 
fallen. Briton ! Piet ! Celt ! and Scot! had long since 
learned the Arts of their ancient conquerors, and out 
of the ruins of a savage Community, had Organized 
a mighty Nation, versed in the Arts and Sciences of 
ancient Greece and Rome, thus combining in One 
People the vivid passion of the progressive Roman, 
with the commercial astuteness which to-day is the 
Characteristic Principle of the Great British Nation. 

Among the subjects of this great Monarchy, which 
had in turn attained the Mastery of the World of 
Business and Literature, a small but determined 
company of devoted people resolved to seek a refuge 
beyond the cloud-fringed waves of the Atlantic. The 
bow of the Mayflower breasts the rolling billows of 
the Ocean. The sails are set to catch the seaward 
breeze; the course is to the Westward, Three 
Thousand Miles due West ! Westward they sail for 
many weary days. The Storm-tossed Mayflower 
Anchors in a harbor. A landing is effected on a. 
Great Rock by the Sea. Mary Chilton steps from 
the Shallop of the Mayflower. The first white woman 
known to America placed her foot upon Plymouth 
Rock. The first Prayer offered in America rises 
from the lips of John Carver as the little band of 


16 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


Pilgrims kneel beneath the winter sky in the year 
1620. For a Century and a half the colony of the 
West flourished. Strong Men had developed the re¬ 
sources of the New England! They had redeemed the 
land from its savage possessors. They believed in 
their own ability to govern themselves. The 
Declaration of American Independence on the Fourth 
of July, in 1776, was a convincing proof to the 
World that the Nation of the West! had fought and 
won their way to a place in the History of Nations; 
and yet the Westward March was but begun. The 
Border States contributed to the development of the 
Middle and Western lands. The golden dream of 
California in 1849 was but “The Gathering O’ the 
Clans ” from all parts of the civilized world. The 
eyes of the entire world are fixed upon this great coun¬ 
try. The effete and useless Courts of Royalty, with 
one accord and unanimous voice, acknowledge the 
triumph of the Western World. The Halls of Monte¬ 
zuma, in the land of the Aztecs, are now in the posses¬ 
sion of a people who, encouraged by the example of 
America, have thrown off the yoke of foreign oppres¬ 
sion, and established The Republic of Mexico! amid 
the ruins of the Aztec Civilization. Cuba! writhing in 
the torture of oppression and despotic rule, looks with 
earnest eyes to the Republic of the West! Hawaii! 
from the far Pacific, Enters the Union of the West! 
From the Old World to the New! The march of 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


17 


Nations progresses! Westward to America! West¬ 
ward through America! to the Western Ocean! West¬ 
ward to the Sandwich Islands. “Westward! the Star 
of Empire takes its way.” 

Still we are confronted by a Mystery! What is the 
meaning of the great Earth Mounds in the State of 
Ohio? Who were the people that erected these monu¬ 
mental tombs of a race that has forever vanished from 
the knowledge of man? We open the Mounds of 
Northern and Central America ; and find human skele¬ 
tons in sitting posture Facing toward the Rising Sun. 
Implements that antedate History are found with the 
remains of a Vanished Race! The Relics of a wonder¬ 
ful race are here before us. The People have dis¬ 
appeared. Their Dead Facing the East. Westward! 
through the Mound! all is Solemn and Dark. Mys¬ 
terious silence! is the Monarch of Vanished Empire! 
All is Mysterious! Still there is a tiny ray of light 
that shines through the clouded ways of human in¬ 
vestigation of the Past. These ancient people looked 
in a certain direction, even in the mounded tombs of 
their race. They looked toward the Rising Sun! They 
looked to the East. But Why? and the silent graves 
re-echo the question, Why? Civilized Man has met 
with Prehistoric Man. Man of the latest Century 
stands in the presence of The Man of the Primeval 
World before the Deluge. An Awful Mystery meets 
the Westward traveler. An Unsolved Problem in 


2 


18 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


human life and work. The Republic of the Present, 
with living, breathing virile life and progress, stands 
with motionless foot and arrested hand in the Court 
of Antiquity! where every trace of delicate thought 
and skillful labor is duplicated by a Republic of Mys¬ 
tery! Westward! And still the mystery deepens. 
Westward to the Sunset, and the Midnight of the 
Unknowable Southward! “At its Meridian height the 
Sun attains the Zenith point.” The Dark Continent 
of Africa lies before the explorer, wrapped in Mys¬ 
tery. Ancient Africa! The primitive Birthland of 
weird Nations. 

Liberia! The Nucleus of that future people, who by 
nature and progressive education, are destined to de¬ 
velop the grand problem of a National, Social, and 
Commercial Life, which will have a notable place in 
the brightening future of the redeemed Race of 
Africa. Across the Soudan to the Egypt! of ancient 
days, we stand awe-stricken in the presence of the 
temple of the Sphinx. Surrounded on either side by 
the Lion Paws of the powerful guardian of the Desert 
Shrine! We look at the giant Pyramids, the resting 
place of Kings, who ruled this land of Antiquity when 
the civilized lands of the Nineteenth Century were 
as yet untenanted by Man ; We enter the causeway 
built from the Pyramid to the ancient Stone Quar¬ 
ries of Egypt, Eight miles in length, Built by the 
labor of One Hundred Thousand Men in Ten Years. 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


19 


Southward! To the land of Ethiopia , To the mines of 
Ophir! 

“Where Afric’s sunny fountains, 

Roll down their golden sand.” 

Southward! To the Diamond Fields of Kimberly, 
where, by the rich chemistry of Nature, the com¬ 
bined beauty of a thousand Rainbows is securely en¬ 
cased within the prismatic crystals of the great Gem* 
that now adorns the Crown Jewels of the British 
Throne. Still Southward! over the beautiful green 
veldt of Buchuana Land. Listen! to the “Meeting 
of the Waters” of Two Oceans! 

“There is not in the wide world a valley so sweet, 

As that vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet.” 

Thus sang the Poet Moore, of the vale of Avoca! 
But the scene of peace and beauty, so sweetly por¬ 
trayed by Ireland’s Sweet Singer, was not the cloud- 
capped billows of the South Atlantic and the Indian 
Oceans, as with tumultuous crested waves they rush 
to meet and mingle amid the wild strains of thunder¬ 
ous music as the mad chorus of wind and wave is har¬ 
monized amid the varied voices of Nature’s grand and 
glorious Symphony. Look Southward! from Cape 
Aguilhas toward The Southern Cross. Still there is 
Mystery! Silence! and Boundless Vision! 

The Extremity of the Continental Universe is be¬ 
fore our eyes. Oh Africa! Thou Sarcophagus of the 


*The “Kohinoor. 



20 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


dead and buried Past. The Cradle of the Arts and 
Sciences of which man has ever been a thoughtful 
student. The Arena, in which has been enacted some 
of the most wonderful events that have adorned the 
page of History or the Stone Tables of Early Man. 
The Cathedral! Within whose continental Architrave 
the awful rites of human sacrifice have been consum¬ 
mated for centuries in the vain hope of securing the 
favor or of Appeasing the anger of a Being! whose 
best claim to adoration from Mankind was The Power 
to inflict punishment upon those who from ignorance 
or preference should incur the displeasure of a Ruler 
whom they did not know. Within this great Cathe¬ 
dral! Man had vainly tried to gain knowledge of the 
Future! Priestcraft had also pretended to impart the 
desired information, but as in later times, Priestly 
learning failed to satisfy the hidden longing of the 
human Soul! Darkness! deep and impenetrable meets 
the traveler to the Southward. Thus we find Darkness 
and Mystery as the Boundary lines of the North! Its 
very existence proves the fact of a Glacial Period in 
the unwritten history of the terrestrial planet on 
which we live. Its very people are the relics of a 
Prehistoric Race that steadily retreated Northward 
before the advancing wall of Ice, until having reached 
the Polar Meridians, its progress was arrested, and 
the hapless race of human beings thus incarcerated 
became the fixed inhabitants of a country barred by 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


21 


Nature from the rest of the world! Truly the North¬ 
land is a land of Mystery and Darkness, and the dark¬ 
ness deepens as we travel toward the West; a chain 
of Mounds extend from the great lakes to the south¬ 
ern gulf of North America. 

The Mound of the great Serpent in Central Ohio is 
a problem to the scientific world; a graded Roadway! 
in the very heart of an uninhabited Wilderness! 
Beautiful Sculptured Ruins of Architectural and Geo¬ 
metric perfection in the forests of Central America! 
Forests that have flourished for many centuries since 
the ruins were inhabited by the builders. Who were 
the Mound Builders? Who Built the Beautiful Cities 
whose ruins still crown the summits of Artificial 
Mountains and Pyramids in Yucatan and Mexico? 
When! and for what purpose was the Grade of the 
Macadamized Roadway builded in the Wilderness of 
the North American Continent, which is now the cen¬ 
ter of a great population of Civilized people? What 
people builded the ramparts of Fort Ancient, in the 
State of Ohio? a Fortification that is standing to-day 
as evidence in Stone of a Vanished Race of people 
who w T ere capable of defense? The Mounds are open 
for inspection! Their presence is Explained! A group 
of Human Forms occupy the ancient Burial Place! 
Gigantic Skeletons sit side by side along the Western 
Side of the mounded grave! The Eyeless Skulls all 
face in the same direction! Every Skeleton is looking 


22 THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 

toward the East1 This fact of itself is peculiarly sig¬ 
nificant, but it becomes more important as we pursue 
the course of scientific investigation. Raise the 
tangled undergrowth of tropic vegetation, rank with 
the accumulation of a Thousand Years of existence. 
We stand within the portals of a beautiful ruined 
Temple.* On the right and left of the massive ruined 
entrance way There stands a Tablet in Bas Relief; 
a curiously attired Form! beautiful in its graceful out¬ 
line, Tastefully adorned with leaves and flowers whose 
counterpart was never seen by the Botanist of the 
later Centuries; Buds and Blossoms whose names and 
classification will never be learned. A Floral Mystery 
preserved in stone of Long, Long Ago! We enter 
the Audience Room of this ancient temple, and people 
it in imagination with similar human forms to the one 
that for centuries has guarded this lost shrine of a for¬ 
gotten people. In this building gathered the people of 
the ruined city in the days of its beauty. Here! upon 
this floor of stone, stood the feet of the men that built 
the city; Here! Human Beings gathered in the worship 
of an unknown God. We penetrate farther into the 
dim recesses! But no “dim religious light” from 
Cathedral Dome or Convent Window illumines the 
utter darkness of this Chapel of a lost people; The 
tiny rays of light shine into the darkness from a torch 
in the hands of men of the Nineteenth Century, and as 


*Temple of Uxmal. Stephens’ Yucatan. 



THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


23 


the flashing light pierces the gloom and mould of cen¬ 
turies, the traveler becomes conscious of An Awful 
Presence! We stand before an Altar of solid stone; 
the light is thrown across the Altar and discloses a 
Magnificent Tablet! embellished with beautiful carv¬ 
ing fromthe hand of a Master Workman in the line of 
Artistic Sculpture, The Grinning Faces of horrible 
Monstrosities are linked in frightful companionship 
with writhing forms of awful Serpents, whose blazing 
eyes seem still to shine with the terrible venom of 
the Reptilian Age in its full Vigor ; Awful Faces! 
Drawn and set with expressions of fearful agony, 
peer out from between the serpentine folds in which 
the forms are enveloped; Terrible Eyes! are looking 
with fearful earnestness into the fascinated eyes of 
the children of earth in the later years of time ; But 
there is an object in the Centre that chains the eye; 
A Cross! Stands in the exact Centre; Perfect in form 
and beautifully ornamented with delicate carving and 
intricate designs interwoven with scroll-work and 
minute details, w 7 hich in delicacy of design and beauty 
of execution, present evidence of a state of civiliza¬ 
tion and an attainment in the fine arts by the people 
of that remote period which compares favorably with 
the Civilization of the present day; and upon a close 
examination of this wondrous work, a Circle of Rays! 
are found emanating from every side of the Cross; The 
inference is instantaneous! A Cross! Lighted by the 


24 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Sun! And, as this strange circumstance flashes upon 
our startled intelligence, We look closer still, and 
then we find to our amazement, that the Altar is in 
the East, The Cross behind the Altar is in the “Far 
East!” The Rays of the Sun Light flash from the 
Eastern Centre! and in the light of this discovery, we 
notice more carefully the position of the sculptured 
faces with terrible eyes, and every Face with Awful 
Eyes is Looking to the East, What is the meaning of 
this Eastern Look? Why, in the Ages forgotten, did 
human beings build such Cities? Why did they build 
Temples and erect Altars in the East? Why did the 
cunning carvers cut those fearful Faces with Eyes 
looking Eastward? Why were the Burial Mounds filled 
with human skeletons seated on the Western side 
Looking toivard the East? These questions present 
themselves to every thoughtful mind. There was 
certainly a Reason for these things, and as we try to 
solve this wonderful problem, a curious Fact is pre¬ 
sented to our consideration, namely: That amid the 
mouldering ruins of the Cities of the Past, there is 
one class of buildings that has withstood the ravages 
of Time and the assaults of War, and the Elements, 
to a greater extent than all others! Cities, whose 
very names have been obliterated from the annals of 
History and the records of Commerce, are still remem¬ 
bered by the Ruins of their Temples of Worship! The 
Temple of Karnac, in Egypt, marks the site of the 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


25 


City of On! which is known to later times as “Thebes 
with her hundred Gates.” This Temple, which was 
1,200 feet in length, 330 feet in width, was dedicated 
to the worship of Amen-Ra, “ God of the Sun,” 2300' 
years before Christ was born; The people of Ancient 
Egypt worshipped the God of the Sun. The Temple 
of the Sun stands in ruins in the City of Baalbek, in 
Syria; six of the original columns are still standing in 
this Temple of the Sun. These columns were fifty- 
eight feet in height and twenty-two feet in circum¬ 
ference, and were beautifully carved according to Co¬ 
rinthian style. This beautiful temple was erected for 
the worship of the Sun. The City Baalbek! was- 
“ The City of the Sun.” The people were Sun Wor¬ 
shippers, and thus we find that Sun Worship was 
universal in ancient Syria. Sun Worship was also 
practiced by the people of ancient Persia, because the 
Books of Persian Literature ascribe the name of Zeus 
as their God. The Ancient people of Scandinavia were 
worshippers of the Sun God; and under the name of 
Odin their temples were built for his worship. Tem¬ 
ples that were built for the worship of Jupiter are 
standing in ruins in every land where Greece has 
placed her standard of pow T er. The Grecian Mythol¬ 
ogy is responsible for the worship of the Ideal! In 
all lands, from ancient to modern times, and at the 
head of all the long list of Mythological Deities, 
Jupiter Olympus stands alone. Jupiter Olympus! 


26 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


“Child of the Sun” and “God of the Sun.” The 
Canaanites as a people Worshipped the God of the 
Sun under the universal name of Baal; and it is a 
fact that is proven by historic record and scientific re¬ 
search that among every one of these ancient people 
there seems to have been but one object in view, and 
that every method of worship and all forms of sacri¬ 
fice were instituted under the impression that the 
Effort to please and propitiate the Power! that was 
supposed to Rule and regulate the laws of Nature 
and the affairs of men, would be accepted by that 
Being who would reward the worshipper with suitable 
blessings in strict proportion to the faith of the wor¬ 
shipping devotee, and a strict and careful tracing of 
the worship of past centuries will finally and inevita¬ 
bly lead to the Sun! as the one great source of light, 
heat, and natural Life; This w T as the Origin of, and 
the Reason for, the Worship of the Sun. The human 
Eye was blinded by its brightness. The heat of the 
Sun rays forced Man and Beast to seek shelter from 
its intensity and deadly effects. The Trees of the 
Forest acknowledge its power by special growth and 
development in the direction of the Sun. The Vapors 
of earth were dispelled by the powerful heat. Water 
and Fire responded to the magnetic force of the great 
controlling cause of Earth life and Earth light. The 
Elementary System of the visible Universe was a 
•closed Book to the eyes of natural man, although he 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


27 


had observed these simple yet wonderful facts for 
Ages! But his mind was naturally directed to the 
Sun simply because it was the most conspicuous ob¬ 
ject in the entire range of his natural vision. 

The Men of the River Drift looked at the Sun from 
beneath the cliffs of prehistoric river beds, his natural 
and only home. Paleozoic and Neolithic Man watched 
the sunbeams as they glistened upon the shaft of pol¬ 
ished Flint, lashed to the staves of wood by thongs 
of hide that fitted in the groove. Men of the Age of 
Bronze, built their fires by the aid of the Sun, and as 
the fiames of the primitive forge ascended from the 
charred and blackened face of the mountain Smithy, 
The Arian Smith, as he welded the metals of Copper 
and Tin, recognized in the Sun rays a Power! which, 
though he did not understand, he duly appreciated 
because of the inestimable service that it rendered in 
the use of Fire. Thus Man has pursued his upward 
course, beginning at the lowest grade and rising by a 
gradual ascent through the intervening Ages of slowly 
increasing Light! Man emerged from the lower into 
the higher planes of thought and action. This prog¬ 
ress of Man inducted him into certain relations with 
his fellow-beings that called upon his power of inven¬ 
tion and execution of his various devices. 

The Age of Iron was an Epoch in the history of the 
human race. Communities were formed, Rights were 
created, and in the majority of cases maintained by a 


\ 


28 THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 

rude code of primitive law between man and his fellow- 
man. Weapons of defense were needed and manufac¬ 
tured. Leaders were chosen by virtue of their prow¬ 
ess in war, and rude ideas of government were dis¬ 
cussed and adopted in the tribal and Communistic 
life of man. As personal Strength, Stature, and Cour¬ 
age were the first requisites of Leadership among a 
savage people, so Man, by slow degrees and gradual 
awakening powers of mind, reached a point when the 
Reasoning faculty asserted itself, and he was no longer 
contented to simply exist in a mere animalistic life 
upon earth. His Mind had kept pace with his phys¬ 
ical advancement, and, as man was no longer content 
to live in a Rock Shelter, or within a Cave beneath 
the River Cliff, but had builded artificial places of 
shelter, Roofed from the storm of Winter and from 
the Summer heat; So, in the same proportion, Man 
demanded a satisfactory Reason for the strange, new 
ideas that were thrilling his awakened Nature through 
the medium of his Reasoning Mind. Man lifted his 
eyes toward the heavens that canopied the blue space 
above his inquiring head; he saw the countless Stars 
gleaming through the darkness and silence of the 
ancient Night. He saw the Moon, “Pale Empress 
of the night,” as fresh from the hand of the All- 
Wise! it passed in a halo of serene glory through the- 
celestial constellations of starry splendor that were- 
yet young in their orbits. Man closed his eyes upon 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


29 


the magnificent spectacle, and pillowed his weary 
-head upon the green lap of his Mother Earth; he felt 
the approach of Unconsciousness, as it stole upon him 
.and closed his tired eyes. Man slept until the sound 
of music rang through the tree tops. Thousands of 
wings are fluttering in the crisp Morning Air. The 
Flowers are opening their beautiful petals. The 
little wild animals are awakening and playing in their 
lairs. All Nature feels the impulse of a grand and 
glorious New Life. A thousand shades of Color gleam 
upon the fleecy clouds. The Hill-tops are aglow with 
tips of flame, as from height to height the glittering 
radiance leaps and flashes until a shaft of brilliant 
Light, keen and blazing with Electric Fire, rests an 
instant upon the Sleeper’s eyes! The man is Awake! 
The Rising Sun has flashed the searchlight of Nature 
around and through her universal dominions. Again! 
Man looks! and again the dazzling light is shining in 
his eyes with a wondrous penetrative power that clouds 
the retina with a kaleidoscopic confusion in a mingled 
chaos of Color! Man shades his eyes with his broad 
and heavy hand; he bows the shaggy Arian Head! his 
gigantic form again lies prostrate upon the earth; the 
-Sun claims a worshipper. Man, for the first time, is 
1 ‘Looking Toward The East!” Northward! Is Dark¬ 
ness, Cold, and silent Mystery! Westward! Are Ruins 
of Vanished Races, Silence, and Mystery! South¬ 
ward! And Superstition is a Darkness of Mystery! 


30 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Eastward! “A Great Light!” Lises to “Open the day' 7 
for Man! The Rising Sun in the eastern horizon was 
a sublime sight to the eyes of prehistoric Man. That 
it was a real power there was and could be No Doubt 
in his mind. Man, having within his being the germ 
of a Mental Nature, began to develop that nature, and, 
as the first step in the development of his reasoning 
faculties, Man was predisposed by his nature to ques¬ 
tion his surroundings, and that which he did not 
understand he naturally learned to fear! And, be¬ 
cause of this fear of the Unknown and glorious Light 
in the East , Man began a rude and primitive system 
of worship. Day after day as the rays of the Rising 
S un illumined the darkness of the primeval night, 
Man arose from his rude lair and saluted the glorious 
Light as a wonderful Power that he feared, and yet 
had learned to look for its daily apppearance; he 
learned through the same avenue of fearful thought 
to invest that great light with human attributes of 
favor and hatred from the standpoint of his own 
crude reason. Man regarded the Sun as a being en¬ 
dowed with all the passionate hate, which seemed to 
be the chief trait of Early Man. Such a being must 
naturally be mollified, and his anger appeased at any 
cost, and the mind of man suggested the Gift of a 
Valuable object to this being, or God of the Sun. 
And, as Fire was the element of heat, and the proper¬ 
ties of the Sun consisted of Light and Heat, the 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


31 


Method of the Offering to The God suggested itself 
to the gradually awakening human mind. The Offer¬ 
ing must be Burned with Fire, because the flame as¬ 
cended, as man believed, into the Sun. This was the 
beginning of the Worship of the Sun. Nearly 6000 
years of Human History have winged their rapid 
flight across the skies of Time, and still the Sun is 
Rising day by day in the far horizon of The East! 

Man! The babe of the Nineteenth Century no 
longer worships the Sun, as a Being, a Creature, or a 
God of Power! But still the same problem that exer¬ 
cised the dawn of human Reason in the brain of Arian 
Manhood and caused him to bow down and worship 
the Unknown Light! causes Man of later times in the 
very midst of the varied lights of History! of Learn¬ 
ing! and of vast Experience! which has been gath¬ 
ered and treasured up in the libraries of the World’s 
Civilization, by the trained minds of the leaders of 
the Mental Kingdom of the Human Race, to still 
pause! in the seeming Acme of real Knowledge and 
to ask the same question of Mother Nature, that his 
Arian Brother wished blindly to understand, What Is 
the Cause of the Sun? Why Is its Presence a Fact? 
How Long Will it continue to diffuse Light to the 
World? Who? or What? Was the First Cause! or Cre¬ 
ator! of this vast Universe of Worlds? Why? Is the 
stupendous System governed by such perfect and reg¬ 
ular Law? Why? Does the Sun rise at all? Why? 


32 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE, 


Does the Earth Need the Sun? Why? Is anything! 
as it is, or seems to be, in Nature or in Man? These 
are the questions that are propounded by the minds 
of men which are separated from, and lighted intel¬ 
lectually by, 6000 years of actual History replete with 
the radiance of learning from the times of the Arian, 
until the times of the wonderful Present. And these 
questions are the more important when we remem¬ 
ber that they must be answered by the same faculty 
of mind that asks them! namely, Reason! There is 
but one way to find the truthful Solvency of this great 
Problem that has ever baffled human Investigation! 
Eor Truth! And the Answer! “Man must Look to the 
East” We must look toward the East for light in Art 
and Science; for there is not one of the Seven Lib¬ 
eral Arts and Sciences that cannot be traced back¬ 
ward through the years of time to its Birthland in 
the far East! The First of the Liberal Arts is Gram¬ 
mar* “Which teaches the proper arrangement of 
words according the idiom or dialect of any partic¬ 
ular people, and that excellence of pronunciation 
which enables us to speak or write a language w T ith 
accuracy agreeably to reason and correct usage,” 
and for a basic point from which a proper under¬ 
standing of the true properties of language may be 
derived, the student of the language of the present 
century is forced by the very nature of the case to 


* “ Ecce Orienti. 



THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


33 


leave the present age and examine with care and 
patience the ancient tongues of Greece and Rome; 
In order that from the Greek and Latin tongues he 
may be enabled to discern, and thus proportionately 
to adjust the legacy of correct speech which by deri¬ 
vation and application has been bequeathed to the 
people of the present age of the world. And the 
earnest study of this beautiful art of Grammar will 
show the faithful student that, although this art has 
been lighted from time to time by the wonderful 
genius of gifted grammarians, Yet for the real light 
of the art of Grammar, in its perfection of beauty and 
elegance of construction and expression, he must 
look toward the ancient Eastern land. The second 
Liberal Art is the art of Rhetoric, which is closely 
allied with the art of Grammar, and so close is this 
alliance that one is inseparable from the other, in the 
perfect rendition of thought which demands the 
strength and beauty of the equally adjusted principles 
of Grammar and Rhetoric to complete the union of 
positive yet graceful terms of speech whether voiced 
by the gifted Orator in the impassioned flow of fiery 
eloquence impelled by the resistless power of the 
genius of imagination or transcribed by the sensitive 
Author whose sense of language is portrayed in the 
true poesy of the soul life—intensified by the con¬ 
flicting and changing emotions which cause the vol¬ 
canic fires of genius to burst the bounds of everyday 


3 


34 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


existence in a repressive state and in defiance of all 
the laws known to the human mind pour forth the 
molten stream of force and elegance of thought and 
language in the terms of Grammar and Rhetoric. 
Thus the art of “Rhetoric teaches us to speak co¬ 
piously and fluently on any subject not merely with 
propriety alone, but with all the advantages of force 
and elegance, wisely contriving to captivate the hearer 
by strength of argument and beauty of expression, 
whether it be to entreat and exhort, to admonish or 
applaud,” and for this reason the arts of Grammar 
and Rhetoric are inseparable companions in language. 
But although they are thus united in the language of 
the present, still the literary excellence of the world 
of letters relies upon the Classic of the blind Grecian 
whom in the “Iliad of Ancient Troy” immortalized 
the name of Homer. Although the gifted spirits of 
the centuries have awakened the echoes of the halls 
of learning; have thundered forth the Law, in the 
supreme courts of the later civilization; have roused 
the sleeping lion of war in the clarion notes of mag¬ 
netic commandership, Yet the Orator, the Author, 
the Poet, must ever bow to the Art of Rhetoric and 
Grammar as it was employed by Homer, the epic 
Poet! Socrates, the learned Writer! and by Demos¬ 
thenes, the golden-tongued Orator of the ancient, 
classic, eastern world of literature; Grammar, and 
Rhetoric, are ancient and honorable companions; 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


35 


and thus the student of Language, in order to dis¬ 
cern truthfulness of assertion, classical correctness, 
forcible expression, and delicacy of thought must 
ever “Look Toiuard the East The Art of Logic! Is 
the powerful lever of solid reason, united with 
keen perceptive abilities, and, *“It teaches us to 
guide our reason discriminately in the general knowl¬ 
edge of things, and directs our inquiries after truth. It 
consists of a regular train of argument, whence we in¬ 
fer, deduct, and conclude according to certain princi¬ 
ples laid down, omitted, or granted—and, in it are em¬ 
ployed the faculties of conceiving, judging, reason¬ 
ing, and disposing—all of which are naturally laid on 
from one gradation to another, till the point in ques¬ 
tion is finally determined.” This is the noble and 
liberal art of Logic! Whereby a just and decisive 
verdict may be reached and rendered by a strict ad- 
herance to the principles thus declared. The Logic 
of Plato is a classic law, and the calm Logic of 
Seneca is immortalized in the history of ancient 
Rome, and for this noble art of Logic we must “Look 
Toward the East. ” 

The Art of Arithmetic! Is indispensable to the 
development of man. The Oceans of the globe are 
crossed by invisible lines of latitude and longitude. 
The Business of the commercial world is governed by 
laws of interest and actual time—because, for the suc- 


* Ecce Orienti. 



36 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


cessful pursuance of business, it is a necessity that 
there be an established law, or rate, which is -fixed ac¬ 
cording to accurate calculation. A Law of Numbers, 
whereby an immovable base of observation may be 
established, from which base a calculation, in any 
given direction, shall equalize its bearings by the 
rule of lawful equation governed by the basic point 
of fact. So, for this reason, *“The Art of Arithmetic 
teaches the powers and properties of numbers—which 
is variously affected letters, tables, figures, and in¬ 
struments. By this Art, reasons and demonstrations 
are given for finding out any certain numbers, whose 
relation or affinity to another is already known or 
discovered.” In the practice of Arithmetic, the world 
of the present is fully conversant, and yet, while cal¬ 
culations of such accuracy are now computed, that the 
very globe has been measured in mileage, and its 
weight ascertained and declared to be correct—while 
the slightest fraction of depression, or advancement 
in commercial values, is calculated daily, by the most 
finished accountants of the business world—still, we 
simply employ the Art for its intrinsic value as a 
means by which our interests are perfectly served and 
our lawful business adjusted, without a thought as 
to the origin and birthplace of the royal science of 
Arithmetic. Still again, we are directed to the classic 
land of Greece—to the Platonic school of Philosophy, 


* Ecce Orienti. 



THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


37 


and the Mathematical school of Alexandria, which 
were flourishing institutions before the Christian Era. 
The rigorous method, and arrangement of these justly 
famous Arithmetical schools, was the initial step to 
the recognition of scholarship throughout the future 
ages of the World’s historic life. And again! for this 
noble Art we must “Look Toward the East .” 

The Art of Music! Is the source of pleasure and re¬ 
flective thought, as the listening ear receives the harmo¬ 
nious melodies, which it is superbly endowed by 
Nature to absorb and transmit to the brain of the at¬ 
tentive hearer. A minute and carefully balanced col¬ 
lection of sounds, each related by a law of modulation 
that forms a combination of Vibratory chords, in a del¬ 
icate and intricate network of symphony—directed 
and controlled by the mathematical lawof Time. 
* “Music is the Art of forming concords, so as to com¬ 
pose delightful harmony by a mathematical and pro¬ 
portional arrangement of Acute, grave, and mixed 
sounds—this art, by a series of experiments, is re¬ 
duced to a demonstrative science—with respect to 
tunes and the intervals of sound. It inquires into 
the nature of concords and discords, and enables us 
to find out the proportion between them, by numbers.” 
The World in general loves Music. The Mother lulls 
her child to sleep, by singing, with low, sweet voice, 
the mesmeric stanza of a lullaby or a soft-toned cradle 


*Ecce Orienti. 



38 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


song. The heart is thrilled with memories! as the 
sweet cadences of a lovely strain of music are wafted 
upon the soul-waves of thought and reason, and 
recollections of the long buried Past! arise—and sol¬ 
emn silence rules the spirit, with memories, of “Sweet 
Departed Days,” of “Long, Long Ago.” But! When 
did the soul-entrancing Art appear upon the great 
worldwide amphitheatre of the practical scenes of 
human existence? Long before the days of Mozart! 
Before the days of *Canovas or Stradivarius! Before 
the days of David, “the sweet singer of Israel”— 
who, by means of the grand music of his wonderful 
“harp of solemn sound,” was enabled to exorcise the 
evil spirit in the brain of mighty Saul! Aye! even 
before the days of Miriam.! That splendid leading 
voice of Israel’s virgin Daughters, who, standing upon 
the Arabian shore, raised the Song of Israel’s triumph 
over her enemies. Music is co-existent with the hu¬ 
man race. The Tocsin Bell of the Aztec! The Tom 
Tom of the Savage! The Fife and Drum of the civil¬ 
ized warriors of the world of nations! The soft tones 
of the Italian Harp! The inexpressible sweetness of 
the Spanish Guitar! The Oriental abandon and de¬ 
lightful music of the Persian Lute! The lovely mourn¬ 
ful notes of the Jewish Harps, that were hung upon 
the willows by the streams of Babylon, during the 
captivity of Zion! The glad notes of Jeptha’s Daugh- 


* Celebrated Makers of Violins. 



THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 39 

ter, as she came to meet her victorious Father! The 
Morning Stars! that “Sang together,” as David re¬ 
corded in the book of Psalms. Still Music! Has a 
Higher, Nobler office among the Arts! Angel Tongues! 
“Sang the Greeting” to the Child of the East! Angel 
voices! Thrilled the wintry morning air of Judean 
shepherd plains—“Gloria in Excelsis Deo,” Glory 
to God in the Highest! “On Earth Peace! Good 
Will Toward Man!” To understand the science of Mu¬ 
sic! We must ever “Look Toward the East!” 

The Science of Astronomy! Is a study of the 
celestial worlds that are in the heavens above the 
terrestrial planet which is known as The Earth in 
contradistinction to the bright and seemingly lumi¬ 
nous bodies which course their way in regular mo¬ 
tion in obedience to the mighty Force that supports 
and controls all movements of the Universe. And 
this study is one that can not fail to impress the 
thoughtful mind with the sense of the infinitismal 
position of Man amid the tremendous w T orks of na¬ 
ture. Man, whose very being, in a physical and men¬ 
tal light, is limited by the circumference of the 
smallest planet of the great system, “What is Man 
that Thou art mindful of him ?” * ‘ ‘Astronomy is that 

divine art by which we are taught to read the Wisdom, 
Strength, and Beauty of the Almighty Creator in the 
open pages of the Celestial Spheres, and, assisted by 


*Ecce Orienti. 



40 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Astronomy, we can observe the motions and measure 
the distances, comprehend the magnitude, and calcu¬ 
late the periods and eclipses of the heavenly bodies. 
By it we learn the use of the globes, the system of 
the world, and the preliminary law of nature. While 
we are thus employed in the study of this science, 
we must perceive unparalleled instances of wisdom 
and goodness, and through the whole creation trace 
the glorious Author by his works.” This is the teach¬ 
ing of the grand art of Astronomy, and the student 
of this scientific course among the cloudland regions 
of celestial heights, is certain to propound this pointed 
question: Where did the Study of Astronomy first 
begin? To-day the telescope of the Astronomic world 
is set within the triangle that determines the position 
of the planet, Mars. Mars! the Red planet. Mars! 
the centre of interest to terrestrial students of 
Astronomy. The Astronomer of the present must 
turn to the pages of the Assyrians if he would certify 
the real value of later observations. The Obelisks of 
Ancient Egypt must be carefully examined, and the 
hieroglyphs with which they are covered must be 
deciphered. The Temples of the Ancient and Me¬ 
diaeval World of men must be diligently searched. 
Even the name Astronomy is derived from the Greek 
word “Astron,” (a Star), and the word “Nomos” 
(Law), or, in other words, Astronomy is the law 
of the Stars! 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


41 


The Telescope of the Astronomer sweeps the 
heavens, and myriad stars of constellated power pass 
across the disc; the mental telescope of reason is ad¬ 
justed by the thoughtful student as he traverses the 
great universe of Astronomic information, and be¬ 
holds the wonderful extent of Ages of past research 
and later discovery, and with expectant eyes he moves 
the glass of reason and levels it in a certain direction, 
pointing to Assyria, the magic home of early wisdom 
in ages past, sets the reflector to absorb and retain 
every ray of Astronomic Light from the teaching of 
Zoroaster and his contemporary men of wisdom. For 
truth in Astronomy, We must “Look toivard the 
East!” But the crowning Science is the Art in which 
All the principles of the minor teachings are blended 
in one grand harmonic chord of divine inspiration and 
sublime and perfect melody. All the beauty of gram- 
matic language is required to express the perfect and 
matchless power of the All-wise Creator. All the 
sublime force of correct language, combined with the 
most exquisite elegance of diction is interwoven in a 
chain of eloquence to bear up the strain of Rhetorical 
effort to describe the glorious radiant splendor of 
the chief gem in the glittering galaxy of the Seven 
Liberal Arts and Sciences! All the weight of sound 
Logic is used in this art as the balance wheel of this 
wonderful and complicated scientific piece of ma¬ 
chinery. 


42 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


All the discoveries of Arithmetic, from the rule of 
three to the J^7th Problem of Euclid, are needed for the 
solvency of this, the greatest of all scientific problems 
of the Universe of Art. The rhythmic chords of 
melodic strains of Music, curved by angles of mathe¬ 
matical precision, Lend a sweet and beauteous vista 
to the Geometric Art, as the raindrops of the summer 
shower are diamonded beneath the Royal Arch of the 
Rainbow! by the flashing rays of the Luminary! which 
Opens , Governs, and Adorns the Day. Astronomy, with 
the lense of stellar vision poised at an angle of years 
of time, pivoting upon epochs, counted by Ages of 
celestial circles around the Sun; Ages, of Solar and 
Stella changes; Planets! that have filled the measure 
of their appointed circuits of years of perpetual trav¬ 
eling within their own respective orbits have almost 
disappeared from the planetary system through the 
wearing of Cycles of Centuries and the changing cir¬ 
cles of the celestial planes of planetary position. 
Meteors! that have been thrown at a tangent from 
their parent satellite of distant planets; Wild, roving 
masses of flaming wreckage of starry worlds; Nebulae 
of matter that in the distant Ages yet to appear may 
be resolved into definite and final form. Thus does 
Astronomy level the Concave lense of the Future, and 
carefully examine the starry fold above. 

A backward glance through the convexed lens of 
Actual Astronomic Time reveals a table of scientific 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


43 


facts that must be perfectly adjusted by the chief of 
all the arts which is Geometric knowledge and calcu¬ 
lation —the future is but darkly revealed as yet, be¬ 
cause of the clouds of Doubt and the storms and 
tempests of dissenting minds. The Astronomer, 
therefore, has recourse to a stronger science—a science 
that, like the Eagle from the cloud-capped peak, faces 
the Sun. Faces, the puny doubts of narrow-minded 
prejudice, with the true and well-defined outlines of 
Truth—which is only to be measured by the Cubic 
Square of Honesty and the Triangle of Honor, Virtue, 
and Charity—and as Geometry is the Science of the 
measurement of space with a given point, definite 
Lines of Length, Breadth, and Thickness, deter¬ 
mined by unvarying Rules, So in the grand major 
scale of the wonderful works of man combined with 
efforts to understand the marvellous handiwork of 
the Creator, there is but one way for the mind to 
travel in the earnest search for light upon all human 
science. The Wisdom of Ages past, is treasured in 
Geometry. All the developments of the future will 
be measured, and weighed, appraised at true valua¬ 
tion, and given to the scientific world by the Royal 
Science of Geometry—as Euclid, in the excess of joy 
at the solvency of his great Forty-seventh Problem, cried 
Eureka! (“I have found it ”). So may we, guided by 
the principles of Geometric, and Speculative Reason, 
bow mentally at the Altar of scientific Truth, with 


44 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


our faces toward the East —the sunrise home of real 
and lasting Light, and with reverence, and love, re¬ 
ceive the True Light, from the Great Geometrician 
of The Universe of Worlds. The true light of the 
Mind is “Speculative Geometry ”—which, like its origi¬ 
nal counterpart in mathematics, is as broad in gen¬ 
eral view and as rigid in adherence to a fixed princi¬ 
ple of Fact and Logical Reasoning—and a patient, 
careful study of human life, with a just and reason¬ 
able perception of seeming cause, and actual effect, 
will inevitably lead the possessor of such a mind to 
long for knowledge of that which has been enacted in 
the world, before his advent into it, and by the actual 
exercise of the faculties of his mental power, a reflux in¬ 
fluence is established within that mind to gain at least a 
glimpse of that mysterious future, toward which he, 
in obedience to an unwritten, yet stern, law of. nature 
together with the entire human family, is travel¬ 
ing by and by to reach, ‘‘That undiscoveredCountry! 
From whose mysterious bourne no traveler re¬ 
turns.” It is then and then only that the Mind feels- 
the presence of the darkness of nature, and with 
it a realizing sense of the need of enlightenment. It 
is then! that, like the untutored child of nature in her 
primeval state, We, too, build an Altar of our hopes 
and fears, and, ofttimes mistaking the transient gleam 
of a passing Emotion, for a real happiness, and for¬ 
getting that as the shadows of evening will obscure 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


45 


the Sunlight, so the clouds of Real Life must over¬ 
shadow and bury in darkness the once bright and 
happy times which ‘‘Were too sweet to last.” Still 
Man living in this darkened, saddened condition of 
Soul and Mind grasps at every fleeting shadow of 
Hope, he becomes embittered by the repeated shat¬ 
tering of his Ideals and the awful burden of the dis¬ 
appointment of life—and like a hunted animal, weary 
•of the ceaseless, harassing, maddening cares of a 
fate for which he is not responsible, yet which holds 
him in an iron grip of trouble, cries out, in the poig¬ 
nant anguish of a Tortured Soul! 

“Oh for a lods^e in some vast wilderness! ” 

He feels alone! Amid the company of his fellows his 
ear is deafened by the confused hum of the discord 
of Buyer and Seller of material things. He turns to 
Literature and reads of other men, who, like him¬ 
self, have traveled the uneven pathway of earthly 
life, and after vainly bowing in worship at the 
shrines of all the so-called relievers! of the awful 
fever of a ruined life, had laid aside forever! a pen 
that was. powerless to find expression of the dull, 
quiet, hopeless, spirit of Resignation to Fate which 
like a pall of despair, had wrapped the soul in the 
sable hue of a fearful Regret, mingled with and 
shaded by the awful mockery of the shifting colors 
of apparent content! That this is a Reality in human 
existence, there is and can be no doubt —failing in 


46 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


the realization of an Ideal Life—we resign Ambition 
and calmly accept the inevitable! This is the actual 
condition of many a thoughtful nature who, after hard 
study linked with actual life experience and logical 
Reasoning, have felt the force of the declaration of 
the Wise King who declared after a Wide experience 
of Life! that 

“ In much Wisdom is much Grief, and 
He that increaseth Knowledge, increaseth Sorrow.” 

We find that the earnest desire for Real Knowledge 
for its own sake is confined to a very few minds in 
the arena of learning; that while many linger in the 
pleasant Outer Courts of Knowledge, and content 
themselves with the bright though less valued gems 
that lie within easy reach of any one, and have a 
market or face value that is easily convertible into 
sordid gain, there are but few who care to bury them¬ 
selves in the mines of Rich Knowledge and delve 
amid darkness and sorrow of mind and loneliness of 
Soul for the priceless pearl of the literal Knowledge 
of the Realities of human life. This was the lamenta¬ 
ble condition of many gifted ones who, by the irony 
of an adverse fate, were born in the ages of men¬ 
tal darkness and hopeless misery of despair. Into 
this gloomy midnight of the life of man came the 
faint gleam of a shaft of light. Egypt had been the 
Mother of Nations. Her Obelisks and Pyramids were 
covered with the descriptive hieroglyphics of the 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


47 


Victories of her mighty ones. Pa-Ra! The God 
of the Sun! was the proud title of their Royal 
Leader. An Altar was erected in the great Temple 
of Karnac, and upon it were laid the daily sacrifices 
to the Sun God. Horus, the golden-horned Bull was 
also worshipped as a powerful Deity. The King de¬ 
sired a Treasure City to be built in order that the 
vast wealth of Egypt might be securely protected, 
and among the workmen there were men who were 
the lineal descendants of Jacob, the Israelite! These 
men remembered a Covenant that had been made with 
Abraham! by the God of Abraham, The God of 
Jacob; and, although they were now in captivity in a 
distant land, still this tradition of God’s Promise to 
Abraham was well remembered, and even in the dark 
days of Egyptian slavery there was a dim hope that 
in the future this Promise would be faithfully kept 
by the great Ruler! The Worship of the Sun had 
never been observed by this peculiar people; they 
bore the burden of life determinedly, though in sad¬ 
ness and with heavy hearts; but a period of relief 
was already appearing for them. Their Leader! a 
man of great faith in the Jewish Traditions, bowed 
in prayer to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! 
and, relying on the Ancient Covenant, Moses pleaded 
for help. A Bush in the wilderness of Midian flames 
with fire before the astonished eyes of Moses. His 
attentive ear hears a voice! “7 Am That I Am!” I am 


48 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


the God of thy Father! The God of Abraham! The 
God of Isaac! And the God of Jacob. 

I am Come Down to Deliver Thee: (Ex:3-6). A 
light of hope began to dawn in the mind of Moses 
as he heard the wonderful message, The God of 
Ancient Israel had spoken! and had Renewed his 
Promise of Deliverance. In the meantime the op¬ 
pression of the Israelites was increased. The care¬ 
ful reader of the Book of Exodus will note the 
Record of a series of persecutions upon the Hebrew 
Race, because they had steadfastly refused to wor¬ 
ship the Sun God of the land of Egypt. Their daily 
tasks were increased by the special order of the 
King, and the oppression was greater than the 
people could bear with patience. At this juncture 
there was noticed by those in charge of the captives, 
that special times were set for the daily prayer which 
was offered without Altar or Sacrifice to the God of 
the Hebrew people. The news was carried to the 
King, who was so incensed at the information, that he 
u,t once ordered the tasks to be again increased, un¬ 
der a heavy penalty if the slightest infringement of 
the royal command should be committed by the un¬ 
happy captives; and, as the darkness of Egyptian 
cruelty was deepening around them, The God of 
Israel! Intervened by sending a plague upon the en¬ 
tire people of Egypt that affected none but the na¬ 
tives of the country. The Hebrews were singularly 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 49 

free from the diseases that had so suddenly come 
upon the people; and, after varied visitations which 
were all disastrous to the Egyptians, their King or 
Pa-Ra! (Heb-Pharaoh) was prevailed upon to release 
them; but, after giving his consent, the King changed 
his mind, and still commanded the Overseers to in¬ 
crease the daily tasks of the Captive Hebrews. 
Then, in desperation, the people begged Moses to 
plead for them with the God of Ancient Israel for 
Relief from their Oppressors. This he did! and, as 
a result of his advice and under his direction, the 
Hebrews prepared themselves to leave the land of 
Egypt. A Lamb was killed in every Hebrew home on 
a certain day. The Blood of that Lamb was sprin¬ 
kled upon the lintel of the door, The Body was 
roasted entirely whole, and the Unleavened Dough 
was hastily baked, and, with the staff of the traveler 
in their hands, they partook of the meal thus hur¬ 
riedly prepared, and when the rays of the Morning 
Sun dawned upon the land of Egypt There was not a 
house in the entire Kingdom but mourned the death 
of the first born of the family. “And there was a 
great cry in Egypt: for there was not a house where 
there was not one dead.” (Ex. 12:30.) This terri¬ 
ble visitation decided the course of the King of Egypt, 
for “He called for Moses and Aaron and said Rise 
and get you forth! from among my people, and go 
and serve The Lord as ye have said.” Moses and 


4 


50 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


the Hebrews took the King at his word. They de¬ 
parted and reached the border of the sea of Egypt! 
The people w T ere in a most unpromising situation. 
Their progress was barred by the Red Sea! and be¬ 
hind them were the enemies of Israel—for, Again the 
King of Egypt had changed his mind and had dis¬ 
patched an army to overtake and recapture them. 
They were in a pitiful condition. But, at the supreme 
moment, when the situation was the most critical, 
a startling circumstance occurred, “And Moses 
stretched out his hand over the sea, and the waters 
were divided, and the children of Israel went into the 
midst of the sea upon the dry ground, and the waters 
were a wall unto them on their right hand and on 
their left.” This is a description of that scene that is 
written in the book of Exodus! and it was regarded 
as an omen of good fortune by and for the Hebrews, 
who upon reaching the Arabian shore were greeted 
by the fearful sight of the mighty Waves resuming 
their former level, and 600 Chariots and Horses, to¬ 
gether with the entire army of Egypt, were buried 
and drowned in the awful depths of the returning 
waters. This is the historic account of a people who 
had been in a state of slavery—without a preconceived 
plan of action, without Arms, a perfectly helpless 
people, and yet a people that were seemingly under 
the protection of a Supreme Power—That simply 
Opened the Sea for their passage, at the action of their 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


51 


leader in stretching out his hand over the rolling 
waters. This is the only instance known in Tradition 
of the law of Nature being set aside at the will of Man, 
until the time of the Exodus of the Hebrews from 
Egypt land. As the Hebrews were the only people 
that ever claimed to have found the True God, it be¬ 
comes imperative upon the Student of history to follow 
this strange people until he shall find complete Evi¬ 
dence that they were not deceived by that power in 
which they trusted in such a marked and unexampled 
manner as to begin an actual journey of unknown 
length, through a trackless Wilderness, in a hurried 
flight from the only place that they had ever known 
as home; even though in slavery, It was Home! It is 
necessary that a Record be found upon the tablets of 
contemporaneous peoples, with whom the Hebrews 
must have met while in their journey to and in the 
Wilderness and the Land of the Canaanites, during 
the succeeding events of this remarkable pilgrimage. 
The Record of Any One Nation of people must, of a 
necessity, be identical with the Contemporaneous 
Records of Other people with whom Trade or War¬ 
fare institutes the need of a Record of Facts! Which, 
to be True, must be Identical with each other as to 
the literal, truthful Facts! which exist. The Hebrew 
Record! Tells us that “The Lord Spake unto Moses,” 
saying, “And let them make me a Sanctuary, that I 
may dwell among them, according to All that I show 


52 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


thee, after the pattern of The Tabernacle! v And they 
shall make an Ark of shittim wood; two Cubits and 
a half shall be the length thereof, and a Cubit and a 
half the breadth thereof, and a Cubit and a half the 
height thereof. And thou shalt put into the Ark! The 
testimony which I shall give thee.” (Ex. 25:1, 9, 10, 
16.) The Record of the Hebrews declares that their 
God told Moses to build a Sanctuary, and that an Ark 
was to be built of a certain kind of Wood, and built 
according to measurement in exact figures and cubit 
dimensions, and that a Pattern was given to Moses 
from the very lips of The God of Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob. This is a wonderful claim of that people of 
Israel—a claim that is far greater in its assertion than 
that of any other people in the history of the human 
race on earth. Never! upon the enduring Tablet of 
Stone, the Skin of Beast, the Roll of Manuscript or 
the Volumes of the World of Literature, was such An 
Astounding Assertion Cut, Engraved, Written, or 
Printed, as the contents of the Record of the Hebrews 
in the Book of The Exodus! This record is startling, 
in the plainness of its details in regard to the super¬ 
natural intervention of The Almighty God. For not 
only was the pattern and measurement of the Ark 
revealed to Moses, But the actual Builder was chosen 
and named by The Lord. (Ex. 31:1, 2, 6.) “And The 
Lord Spake unto Moses, Saying, See! I have called 
by name Bezaleel, the son of Uri, and I have filled him 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


53 


with The Spirit of God, in Wisdom, and in Understand¬ 
ing, and in Knowledge, to devise cunning works, to 
work in Gold, and in Silver, and in Brass, and in cut¬ 
ting of Stones, to Set them, and in Carving of Tim¬ 
ber, to work in all manner of workmanship. And 
Behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of 
Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of 
all that are wise hearted I have put Wisdom, that 
they may make all that I have commanded thee.” 
Thus, we are informed by The Hebrew Record that 
the God of the Hebrews commanded, by word of 
mouth, that an Ark should be made according to His 
own directions, and, in addition to this, we are further 
informed that “He gave unto Moses Two Tables of 
Stone! Tables of Testimony! Written with the finger 
of God.” And in the Book of the Exodus, in the 32nd 
chapter, the Record tells us that “The Tables were 
the Work of God and the writing was the writing of 
God, graven upon the tables.” And we read also that 
the people, having grown weary of waiting for the 
return of Moses from the mountain, had made an Idol 
of Gold in the form of a Calf, and were worshipping 
this idol, as Moses was returning with the Two Tables 
of Stone in his hands, and that Moses, in anger at 
their idolatrous practices, cast down and broke the 
two tables of stone, after which he was instructed by 
The Lord! To “Hew Two New Tables of Stone, like 
unto the first.” (Ex. 34:1.) And Moses obeyed the 


54 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


order and he hewed two tables of stone like unto the 
first. “And Moses went up into Mount Sinai, and 
took in his hand the two tables of stone.” 

There, The Ten Commandments were Repeated by 
The Lord, who said to Moses: “Write Thou These 
Words.” And in obedience to this order “He Wrote 
upon the Tables, the words of the Covenant, The Ten 
Commandments.” We must notice that the First Ta¬ 
bles were written on Both their sides, after the most 
ancient manner known to Man, and that the writing 
was Graven upon them by The Finger of God. But the 
Second Tables of Stone were hewed by Moses at the 
command of The Lord, and the Repetition of The Ten 
Commandments from the lips of The Lord, w T as Writ¬ 
ten upon the Second Tables of Stone by the hand of 
Moses, at the express Order of The Lord! These 
Two Tables of Stone were successfully carried by 
Moses from the mountain of Sinai, into the midst of 
the congregation of the people of Israel. These were 
the Tables of Testimony! and bore upon their faces 
the actual Covenant which The Lord declared should 
be a perpetual and solemn compact with the children 
of Israel. It was for their reception and preserva¬ 
tion that the Ark was built, and it was because of 
their sacred origin that the people, even in a rude 
and unlettered Age, were taught to regard the Ark 
as a sacred repository of the Spoken Word of God— 
the Word of a mighty Being, that by his limitless 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


55 


power had proved himself the Ruler of the forces of 
Nature, and by his readiness to forgive his people 
had also proved himself a loving and patient Pro¬ 
tector of a people who had put their trust in Him. 
For this reason, the Ark which contained the two ta¬ 
bles of stone, was called the Ark of the Covenant— 
Because God had covenated with his people, and had 
Recorded it by the hand of Moses, and, then had 
preserved it in an Ark which had been built in a spe¬ 
cial manner to receive the Covenant. God had also 
named the man whom he had selected to build the 
Ark—and the Records tell us that “Bezaleel Made 
The Ark of Sliittim Wood, and that its Height, 
Length, and Breadth, corresponded with the figures 
of measurement as given by The Lord, namely, that 
the Length was 2£ Cubits, or 4 ft. 7 in.; That the 
Breadth was a Cubit and a half, or 2 ft. 9 in., and the 
Height was the same as the Breadth, or a Cubit and 
a half. So that by allowing 22 in. to a Cubit, we have 
the exact dimensions of The Ark of the Covenant, 
which were as follows, according to modern meas¬ 
urements of the Cubit: 4 ft. 7 in. long, 2 ft. 9 in. Wide, 
and 2 ft. 9 in. high. We also find a complete de¬ 
tailed account of the appearance of The Ark; and 
after a careful perusal of the 37th of Ex., we find that 
“He overlaid it with Pure Gold, within and without, 
and he cast for it Four Rings of Gold, to be set by the 
four corners of it—Two Rings upon the one side, and 


56 


THE MASONRY OP" THE BIBLE. 


Two Rings upon the other side of it. And he made 
Staves of shittim wood and overlaid them with Gold. 
And he put the Staves into the Rings by the sides of 
the Ark, to Bear the Ark.” And so the Reader will 
see at once that Bezaleel and' Aholiab executed this 
work exactly in accord with the Pattern given by the 
Lord. In the 40th Chap, of The Exodus, There is a 
glimpse of Light as to the real Reason of The Taber¬ 
nacle, and The Ark of The Covenant being builded 
by the Israelites, during a Wilderness march of many 
weary years. “And The Lord spake unto Moses, 
saying, On the First Day of the First Month, shalt 
thou Set Up the Tabernacle of the Tent of the Con¬ 
gregation, and thou shalt put therein the Ark of the 
Testimony, and Cover the Ark with the Vail. And it 
came to pass in the First month, in the Second Year, 
on the First Day of the month, that the Tabernacle 
was Reared Up.” 

This was the Year of 1490 B. C., and therefore 
can be cited as Positive and valuable Evidence of the 
erection of a structure for the purpose of Worship of 
the Lord—a building that was designed and builded 
by the direction of God and yet erected by man. 
“And Moses reared up the Tabernacle as The Lord 
commanded Moses and he took and put the Testimony 
into the Ark. And set the Staves on the Ark, and he 
brought the Ark into the Tabernacle, and set up the 
Vail of the covering, and covered the Ark of the Tes- 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


57 


timony, as the Lord commanded Moses.” This was 
the Beginning of a System of Worship which was 
to be forever devoid of all Idolatry—Carved, or Molten 
Images, or the Teachings of Men of The Future Gen-, 
erations. They had a creed. It was the Ten Com¬ 
mandments of the Lord God of Israel, Written upon 
Tablets of Stone, and this Creed of God was placed 
Within the Ark which had been built exactly as God 
had directed. Their journey through the Arabian 
Wilderness was henceforth to be Guided by a Cloud 
over the Tabernacle during the day, and a blazing 
Pillar of Fire by night. This wonderful manifesta¬ 
tion of the God of Israel was calculated to give that 
chosen people assurance that they would be safely 
Guided by day and Guarded by night by the great 
deified Being who was their God. This was the faint 
Dawn of Eastern Light , which tinged the midnight of 
Early Man in his effort to find the Creator, with the 
Auroral glow of the coming light and knowledge of 
the future Ages of Life when Man! having emerged 
from the Savagery of primitive existence into the ex¬ 
tended area of Semi-Civilization should pass through 
the varied and mighty evolution of Racial, Tribal, 
and Communal relations into Self-Sustaining and 
Self-Governing Nations of thoughtful human Minds, 
and as the light of knowledge increased in the radius 
of its ever increasing glory among the dim archways 
of the untried Future, and illumined the unknown 


58 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


and as yet unnumbered Centuries of Human. Life and 
Experience, the earnest students of real life, and 
man’s attempts to worship God is led by the con¬ 
sideration of the wonderful and positive relations of 
God to ancient Israel, and a careful examination of 
the ancient Record—to look toward the East —for the 
only solution of the great problem of the Past! the 
Present! and the Future! Let us glance at the page 
of the Historic Past. Arabia! Where captive He 
brews witnessed that great convulsion of a mighty 
Sea to Open the Way for the people. Where Manna 
fell from heaven in answer to their prayers. The 
Awful Mount of Sinai, where the Feet of God have 
stood. Arabia! The Grandest, Holiest Land of 
Earth—save Calvary. That land is forever Sacred 
to The Presence of The Lord. Leave the Mounds of 
America, the City of Long Ago, Step from the Temple 
of the Sun, in the Ruins of Yucatan. Leave the prehis¬ 
toric Dead. The Eastward looking Forms. Pity the 
child of Islam, as he bows to the Muezzins Call. Weep 
for the innocent children living sacrifices to “Ganga.” 
Read with the horror of wakened Sense, the cruelty 
of Brahma. Contemplate the Wisdom of the Teach¬ 
ings of Confucius. Backward! Read the Record of 
the Failures of humanity. Penetrate the Shadow- 
land of Mediaeval History. Rome! proud mistress of 
the World. Grecia! in her Glory. Egypt! Mother of 
the Nile. Bowing humbly to Amen-Ra. Assyria! 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


59 


Whose marble Temple speaks of the God Bel. Per¬ 
sia! Whose wondrous past is a picture set in Gold. 
India! Where the very streams are red with blood of 
babes. China! Ancient, Cold, Suspicious, Wrapped 
in Solitude. Back to the first beginnings of a human 
Civilization. Backward through the centuries to the 
dawning of the light. Back to the Days of King 
Belshazzar. Stricken by The Lord. Back to the 
Persian King of might with Esther! child of God. 
Back to Daniel! Praying with his eyes toward Jeru¬ 
salem. Back to Joshua! Led to Victory by the An¬ 
gel of the Lord. Back to the Wilderness journey! 
with God’s own chosen ones. Back to the Taber¬ 
nacle! Vailed with Cloud and Fire. Back to the Ark 
of the Covenant! Built by God’s direction. Back to 
the Mount of Sinai! Where Moses talked with God. 
Back to the light of the Burning Bush, in the desert 
of Midian. Back! for Three Thousand and Ninety 
years to the Dawn of the glorious Eastern Light! 

The Sublime Scene in Sinai, when a Man was 
called to speak face to face with The God of the 
Universe, is beyond the power of a human pen to de¬ 
scribe. But there is the starting point of Truth Upon 
that mountain; the Voice of the All-wise Spoke Be¬ 
neath the cloud that overshadowed the mountain; 
the frail Being of Earth listened to the tones of the 
great God of Nature, as for the first time He Voiced 
his awful mandate of Obedience or Punishment. 


60 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


This is the Beginning of the Sunrise of Knowledge. 
The long, weary Day of Civilization is being filled 
with Thoughts! Deeds! Achievements! and Failures! 
Man of the Present is apparently living in the Zenith 
of Civilization’s Light and Glory, yet he is the Child, 
the Student of the Past! Journeying toward the Sun¬ 
set and inevitable Night of future Oblivion! Man 
is conscious of a longing to Know the Living Truth! 
The Record Book of the Ages is the Light of the 
World. Man Reads The Bible and “Looks toivard the 
Bast!” 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


61 


CHAPTER II. 

FROM THE TABERNACLE TO THE TEMPLE. 

The Tabernacle with the Ark, which contained the 
precious Covenant and the Ten Commandments of 
The Lord, was the One Central Point of interest to 
the Children of Israel as they traveled through the 
wilderness on their journey to The Promised Land. 
The Cloud that hovered over the Tabernacle was a 
Sign to them that the Lord would Protect them. 
And, as it Raised and moved before the camp in the 
daily journey, the people were assured that they 
were being guided in their pathway by the direction 
of their God. The Fire that loomed above the 
Tabernacle at night was a Symbol of the light of the 
Creator that was yet to dispel the darkness of the 
world of human thought, and as the people journeyed 
on rejoicing in the possession of sure and tangible 
proof of the Presence of their God, by His wonderful 
guardianship of the Ark of the Covenant. A 
stronger proof was yet to be given by the Lord. As 
the Book of the Exodus is a Historic narrative of 
a company of Captives, leaving the scenes of slavery 
in the land of Egypt by a miraculous and very un¬ 
natural manner, so the Book of Leviticus is also a 
Record of the Laws of Government, and the Relig- 


62 THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 

ious Rites and Sacrifices, which were observed from 
the very Beginning of the Tabernacle Service by the 
express command of The God of Israel. He spoke 
from within the Tabernacle, from the Holy Place, 
where The Ark of the Covenant had been deposited 
by Moses. Having taken possession of the Building 
which He had designed for this very purpose, The God 
of Israel directed His chosen people by His own Voice, 
which was heard proceeding from the Tabernacle. 

And the Book of Leviticus, in the Opening Chap¬ 
ter, commences the plan by which God had chosen to 
guide his people, by saying, “The Lord called unto 
Moses and spake unto him, Out of the Tabernacle of 
the Congregation, saying! Speak unto the Children 
of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring 
an offering unto the Lord, Ye shall bring your offer¬ 
ing of the Cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. If 
his offering be a Burnt Sacrifice of the herd, let him 
offer a Male without Blemish. He shall offer it of his 
own voluntary Will at the Door of the Tabernacle of 
the Congregation before the Lord. And he shall put 
his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it 
shall be accepted for him, to make atonement for him. 
And he shall Kill the Bullock before The Lord: and 
the Priests, Aaron’s Sons, shall bring the Blood and 
sprinkle the blood around about upon the Altar that 
is by the Door of the Tabernacle of the Congrega¬ 
tion!” Here is the very First Instance of Recorded 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


63 


History of a Sacrifice for Atonement upon an Altar, 
within a Building, at the command of the Lord God 
of Israel. And, as all the works of the Divine Cre¬ 
ator are Perfect in Design and Execution, The Taber¬ 
nacle Sacrifice of an Unblemished Animal was a Type 
of the Ideal which existed in the All-Wise fore-knowl¬ 
edge of God, and this Ideal was yet to be Material¬ 
ized, Incarnated, and Loved by even the Creature 
Man! who in his blind way was endeavoring to obey 
the Voice of his Maker in the primitive and rude type 
of an Animal Sacrifice for Atonement. And the care¬ 
fully detailed account of the varied forms of sacrifice, 
which really comprises the Book of Leviticus, serve to 
show that the simple forms were Man's primary les¬ 
sons in the course of a Universal Understanding and 
Worship of God. The Induction of a Priesthood, with 
the full duties and responsibilities which were affixed 
with a stern and unanswerable law- of Inflexibility, 
shows us the solemnity of the Tabernacle Service, 
The Value and purity of the Atonement Sacrifice— 
giving us a glimpse of the Nature of the Being! by 
whose supreme Knowledge both Tabernacle, Priest¬ 
hood, and People were Established and Supported, 
in the grandest passage from Darkness to Light, that 
ever adorned the page of History! Laws were given 
to Moses for the just and proper administration of 
exact justice to all men, whether an offender or a law¬ 
ful member of a devoted tribe or family. And, as- 


4 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


•every offense is named explicitly, and the proper 
method to be pursued in every case is emphatically 
and boldly asserted, The Book of Leviticus Stands to¬ 
day as an Obelisk of Law, amid the dim outlines of 
the first attempts of Man to reach the scale of Just 
and Equal Law, as existing between God and Man, in 
the exact equationary balance of the Creation with 
the Creator. And the strict Code of Morality and Jus¬ 
tice which is displayed in the ancient Law of God is 
a Rock of Truth, amid the lighter and easily annulled 
rulings of the narrow mental suppositions of human 
Laws, and therefore, the conviction forces itself upon 
our minds, that such a perfect and exhaustive Code of 
Laws were never framed simply for the use of a peo¬ 
ple during the transient time of a Communal Exit 
from one country to another. But, on the contrary, 
The Very Beginning! pointed to a developed plan of 
a Supreme Mind! The Reversal of the law of Equi¬ 
librium at the Red Sea! Was an indisputable evidence 
of the limitless power of that mind. The Manna and 
the Quails were disposed in such a way as to prove 
that a Power was supporting and directing the Cap¬ 
tives Out from the Bondage of Egypt for the noble 
purpose of developing them into a large and power¬ 
ful Nation with a Future of Historic Life Achieve¬ 
ment that would carry out in human lives the grand 
plans of the mighty Lord God of Israel for the eleva¬ 
tion of the human family in Knowledge of the Maker. 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


65 


Let us read the opening chapter of the Book of 
Genesis: “In the Beginning, God Created the Heaven 
and the Earth, and the earth was without Form, and 
Void—and Darkness was upon the face of the Deep, 
and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the 
waters and God said: Let there be Light! and there 
was light.” (Gen. 1:1,2,3.) This was the Birth of 
Creation, told in the simple, yet majestic language of 
the great Record, of Geologic, of Astronomic, and 
Creative Truth! The Book of Genesis lights up the 
Creative period of the world’s history. The Book of 
The Exodus is the continuation of the great Plan of 
the All-Wise God to Establish a love of Himself in 
the souls of the human creatures, which owed their 
existence to Him, from the day that Adam and Eve 
left Paradise, by the Eastward Gate , which gate was 
guarded by the flaming Sword of the Angel of The 
Lord, until the time that Abram was visited by The 
Lord, man had lived in a world of Spiritual Dark¬ 
ness. But, as the message of Hope! was spoken by 
the Angelic Herald of the Court of Heaven, the dark 
Future of the Race was pierced with a slender ray of 
glancing Light! 

The Covenant of God with Abraham! The Reader of 
Genesis will find that this Promise was preserved to 
the Sons of Abraham! to Isaac, his Son, and Jacob, 
his Grand-Son! Joseph, the Son of Jacob, having 
been sold by his brothers into the hands of theEgyp- 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


tians, Rises, by virtue of Merit, to the high honor of 
the Chief Ruler of the Egyptian Kingdom; and at 
the advanced age of 110 years, the body of the great 
Joseph, the Son of Israel, is embalmed and coffined 
by the consent of the King, and his remains were en¬ 
tombed in the land of Egypt. 

The Book of Exodus takes up the narrative, and 
carries the reader, with the Descendants of Joseph 
and his Brothers, All Children of Jacob or Israel, 
across the Sea and into the Arabian Wilderness. The 
Tabernacle was reared by Moses, the Ark Built by 
Bezaleel and Aholiab, was placed within the sacred en¬ 
closure; The Tables of Stone, Written by Moses! at the 
Command and dictation of The God of Israel, were placed 
within the Ark. The Cloud of the Presence of The 
Lord rested upon the Tabernacle, and the Fire that 
sprang into existence, at the command of God, lit the 
Courts of that sacred Tabernacle of God , in the Wilder¬ 
ness of Arabia. A band of rescued Slaves began the 
worship of the Lord—Not a Worship caused by fear 
of the Unknown! Not a Form of adoration, actuated 
by gross motives or in an ignorant, narrow-minded 
Prejudice, or because of Superstitious Fallacies, But 
a grand genuine Worship of the Power! which had 
gained ascendancy over their minds by practical de¬ 
monstration of Divine Capability to overcome the 
seeming barriers of Natural Laws, and even to Reverse 
their Order, at His Supreme Will. This Worship of 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


67 


a sublime Creative Agency was guided by a Code of 
Laws, which, upon being applied to the Physical Life, 
reflected the Light of Spiritual Origin—and by virtue 
of this just Code, which is given in full, The Student 
of Light is led to pursue his investigation still farther, 
and by tracing the wanderings of this strange and 
apparently isolated people, seek to find an appro¬ 
priate Reason! for their being the Chosen, from 
among all the people of the earth, and also, if possi¬ 
ble, to discover a Reality which shall be Identical with 
the Ante-Types, as recorded in the Book of Leviticus— 
and, in connection with this Ideal, the student finds a 
Command from The Lord, to offer a Sacrifice for 
Atonement of the Offenses of the people. 

The entire collection of 27 chapters of the Book of 
Leviticus is a list of Laws, both Civil and Religious, 
which were to be strictly observed, and sternly en¬ 
forced, under the penalty of the Displeasure of The 
Lord at the slightest infringement of the least of His 
commands. A Reward was promised for faithful 
Obedience, and a Punishment was also promised to 
the Disobedient. The Supreme Law Giver had caused 
certain laws to exist as points of guidance, in the ad¬ 
justment of the affairs of their Family and Tribal 
Life. With Them, God alone was the Only Ruler! 
Their Social, Political, and Religious Existence was 
bounded by the one affirmation! “Thus saitli The 
Lord ”— Nothing , was to be accepted as True , without 


68 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


This Divine Authority. And, from Moses, the leader, 
to the smallest Child, All Believed in The Lord God 
of Israel—a God! Absolute! in Power, Resolute! in 
Will, a Perfect Being! Their leader, Moses! chosen 
by The Lord, was commander of the entire company, 
and his word was believed, and they, together with 
Moses, followed the strict law which had been enacted 
by God himself, and put on statutory Record in Ta¬ 
bles of solid stone. 

This Law was the legal authority in all their de¬ 
cisions of life, and their religious services were ob¬ 
served in a building which had been actually designed 
by the Lord. “The Church in the Wilderness,” In 
which was placed a precious Casket, overlaid with 
Gold, by the hand of Moses! according to the Word of 
The Lord, who had given him full instructions how to 
proceed in the great undertaking to which God had 
called him. This is the actual Record of The Book of 
Leviticus—The Book of The Law, of The Lord God 
of Israel. Again, “The Lord spake unto Moses, 
in the wilderness of Sinai in the Tabernacle of the 
Congregation, saying, Take ye the sum of all the 
congregation of the children of Israel, and they 
assembled all the congregation together, and 
they declared their Pedigrees after their families, 
by the house of their Fathers. As the Lord com¬ 
manded Moses, So he numbered them in the wil¬ 
derness of Sinai. All they that were numbered 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


69' 


were Six Hundred Thousand, and Three Thousand, 
and Five Hundred and Fifty. But the Levites, after 
the tribe of their Fathers, were not numbered among' 
them. For, The Lord had spoken unto Moses, say¬ 
ing, Thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi! But 
thou shalt appoint the Levites over the Tabernacle 
of Testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and 
over all things that belong to it. They shall Bear the 
Tabernacle and all the vessels thereof, and they shall 
minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the 
Tabernacle. And when the Tabernacle setteth For¬ 
ward! The Levites shall take it down, and when the 
Tabernacle is to be Pitched, the Levites shall Set it 
up! And the Levites shall keep the charge of the 
Tabernacle of Testimony.” Thus we find that The 
Tabernacle, with the Ark of the Covenant, was to be 
Kept in charge by the men of the Tribe of Levi—a 
Special Tribe. “And The Lord spake unto Moses, 
saying, Behold, I have taken the Levites from among 
the children of Israel. Number the children of Levi, 
after the house of their Fathers. And Moses num¬ 
bered them according to the Word of the Lord. 
Those that w T ere numbered of them were Twenty-two 
Thousand.” One family of the Levites had charge of 
the Ark of the Covenant, and there was a special 
manner in which their work was to be performed. 
“And when the Camp setteth forward, Aaron shall 
come and his Sons, and they shall take down the Cov - 


70 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


ering Vail , and cover the Ark of Testimony with it, 
and shall put thereon the covering of Badger’s Skins, 
and shall spread over it a Cloth, Wholly of Blue! And 
shall put in the Staves thereof.” 

From this Beginning of the Levitical service, the 
entire details of the service, both of the Ark and the 
Tabernacle, are minutely described in the Book of 
Numbers! and this wonderful Record of Statistics 
presents a System of Order, and a thorough division 
of Tribal and Individual duties, that stands without a 
parallel in the history of the nations of the World. 
When in sight of The Promised Land of Canaan, be¬ 
yond the Jordan River, Moses called an Assembly of 
the Children of Israel and said: “I must die in this 
Land! I must not go over Jordan. Furthermore, 
The Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and 
sware that I should not go over Jordan. But Ye 
shall Go Over, and possess that good land. Now, 
therefore, Hearken! O Israel, unto the Statutes and 
unto the Judgments which I teach you, for to do 
them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the 
land, which the Lord God of your Fathers giveth 
you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I com¬ 
mand you, Neither shall ye diminish aught from it, 
that ye may keep the commandments of The Lord 
your God which I command you. Take heed unto 
yourselves lest ye forget the Covenant of the Lord 
your God. And Moses called All Israel and said unto 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


71 


them: Hear! O Israel, the Statutes and Judgments 
which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn 
them, and keep and Ho them. The Lord our God 
made a Covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made 
not this Covenant with our Fathers, but with us! 
Even Us, who are all of us here alive this day. The 
Lord Talked with you face to face in the Mount, Out 
of the midst of the Fire, Saying: I am The Lord Thy 
God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, 
from the house of Bondage. Thou Shalt have None 
Other Gods before Me. Thou shalt not Make unto 
thee any Graven Image, or any Likeness of anything 
that is in Heaven above, or that is in the Earth be¬ 
neath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth. 
Thou shalt not Bow Down thyself unto them, nor 
serve them; For I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous 
God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the chil¬ 
dren unto the Third and Fourth Generation of them 
that hate Me, and shewing mercy unto thousands of 
them that love me and keep my commandments. 
Thou shalt not take the Name of The Lord thy God 
in vain, for The Lord will not hold him guiltless that 
taketh this name in vain. Keep the Sabbath Day, to 
Sanctify It as the Lord thy God hath commanded 
thee. Six Days, thou shalt Labor and Do all thy 
Work; But the Seventh Day is the Sabbath of The 
Lord thy God; In it thou shalt not do any work, 
Thou, nor thy Son, nor thy Daughter, nor thy Man- 


72 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Servant, nor thy Maid-Servant, nor thine Ox, nor 
thine Ass, nor any of thy Cattle, nor thy Stranger 
that is within thy gates, that thy Man-Servant and 
thy Maid-Servant may have Rest! as well as thou; 
and Remember, that Thou wast a Servant in the land 
of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee 
Out thence through a mighty hand, and by a stretched 
out Arm. Therefore, The Lord thy God Command¬ 
ed Thee, to keep the Sabbath Day! Honor thy 
Father and thy Mother, as the Lord thy God hath 
commanded thee, that thy days may be prolonged, 
and that it may go well with thee in the land which 
the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not Kill; 
Neither shalt thou Commit Adultery; Neither shalt 
thou Steal; Neither shalt thou Bear False Witness 
against thy Neighbor; Neither shalt thou Desire thy 
neighbor’s Wife; Neither shalt thou Covet thy neigh¬ 
bor’s House, his Field, his Man-Servant, his Maid- 
Servant, his Ox, or his Ass, or Anything! that is thy 
Neighbor’s. These Words The Lord spake unto All 
your Assembly in the Mount, out of the midst of the 
Fire, of the Cloud, and of the thick Darkness, and 
He added No More. And He Wrote Them in Two Ta¬ 
bles of Stone and delivered them unto me.” 

These words were actually spoken by Moses, in the 
presence of the assembled thousands of Israel, and 
they were specially directed by him to Obey the Ten 
Commandments implicitly, ever remembering that 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


73 


they were given by The Lord, and actually written 
upon the two Tables of Stone by the Finger of God! 
and that they had been delivered into the hand of 
Moses because he was the leader of the children of 
Israel, by the Divine Choice of God; and after re¬ 
hearsing before them the wonderful manifestations of 
the Power of God in the interest of His Chosen Peo¬ 
ple, Moses next proceeds to enter into a minute de¬ 
scription of the Building of the Ark of the Covenant, 
in which the Tables of Stone were safely deposited. 
“At that time The Lord said unto Me, Hew thee Two 
Tables of Stone like unto the First, and Come up 
unto Me into the Mount, and make thee an Ark of 
Wood.” There was a good Reason for the people to 
be well reminded of these Second Tables of Stone, 
“like unto the First,” Because, of their disobedience 
of the First Commandment that God had written 
“Thou shalt have None Other Gods before Me.” 
Moses told them in plain forcible language of their 
faithlessness: “And it came to pass at the End of 
Forty Days and Forty Nights, that the Lord gave me 
the two tables of stone, even the Tables of the Cove¬ 
nant; and the Lord said unto me, Arise! Get thee 
down quickly from hence, for thy people which thou 
hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted 
themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the 
way which I commanded them; They have made a 
Molten Image; So I turned, and came down from the 


74 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Mount, and the Two Tables of the covenant were in 
my two hands—and I looked, and Behold! Ye had 
sinned against The Lord your God, and had made you 
a molten Calf. Ye had turned aside quickly out of 
the way which The Lord had commanded you; and I 
took the two tables and cast them out of my two 
hands, and Brake them before your eyes.” 

Moses had received the tables of stone directly 
from the hand of God. But when he saw the idolatry 
of the people, he was provoked by it, and to such an 
extent that Moses in anger at their sin Cast down and 
broke in pieces the Stone Record of the Law of God. 
Then, by the Will of the Infinite, Moses was directed 
to Hew the Two Second Tables wfiiich were “like 
unto” or resembling the First Ones which Moses had 
broken. At the command of The Lord, Moses Re¬ 
peated, in the hearing of all the people, what The 
Lord had spoken unto him. “At that time, The Lord 
said unto me, Hew Thee Two Tables of Stone, like 
unto the first, and come up unto me into the Mount, 
and make thee an Ark of Wood; and I will write on 
the tables, the Words that were in the First Tables 
which Thou Brakest, and thou shalt put them in the 
Ark. And I made an Ark of shittim wood, and Hewed 
two tables of stone, like unto the first, and went up 
into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand. 
And He Wrote on the tables according to the First Writ¬ 
ing, The Ten Commandments , which the Lord spake 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


75 


unto you in the mount, and the Lord Gave Them unto 
Me—and I turned and came down from the mount, 
and Put the Tables in the Ark , which I had Made , and 
There they Be, as the Lord commanded me.” This is 
the declaration of the actual Work of God in the wil¬ 
derness of Sinai—and it states imperatively, that a 
Written Law, which consisted of Ten Commandments, 
was Graven upon two tables of Hewed Stone, by the 
Finger of God —and it stands without a parallel in the 
history of Man. And, as Science is coincident with 
The Bible, and the developments of the centuries 
have demonstrated beyond all doubt this incontro¬ 
vertible Fact! That a Captive People were Released 
from the country of their enemies by a wonderful ex¬ 
hibition of supernatural events that seemingly dis¬ 
criminated between the Captives and their oppressors, 
And, after leading that feeble band of helpless people 
all through the trackless Wilderness and assuring 
them by remarkable phenomena of Waters, Rising 
above their level of specific Gravity, in order to open 
a roadway between their crystal Walls by which the 
Captives reached the land of liberty, and still by a 
positive partiality of the Power that caused this re¬ 
vulsion in Gravitation, The Army of the Egyptians 
found that same pathway to be a thoroughfare to cer¬ 
tain defeat and death. 

After sending the Manna, and the Quails, in re¬ 
sponse to the petitions of His chosen people after 


76 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


establishing a Sentinel by Night in a Pillar of Fire> 
and appointing a Guide by Day, in the presence of the 
daily Pillar of Cloud, a Mountain was reached, which 
is known and located by the present Civilization as 
the Mountain of Sinai in the vast wilderness of South¬ 
ern Arabia—and, within the cavernous recesses of 
this mountain, that was charged with a deadly Force, 
which was inimical to any living creature that should 
venture near its Base. Here was the place where God 
the Creator met and talked with Moses, the Child of 
the River, whose cradle was rocked by the moving 
waters amid the bending reeds, who had been adopted 
by the Daughter of Pharaoh, and, from the lowly po¬ 
sition of the Shepherd of Midian, had been Exalted 
by the God of Israel—To lead His people from the 
land of their Captivity; to speak face to face, in the 
mountain of Sinai, with the Creator of the World. 
This is not a dim, or vague imaginary dream of the dis¬ 
tant Past, or a Picture of the Fancy hung amid the dust 
and cobwebs of the decaying halls of the human 
imagination, But a glorious Masterpiece of Outline, 
Color, and Force, that, like the ancient Portraits from 
the immortal brush of Raphael, Titian, Rubens, or 
Murillo, is alive with power to thrill the Emotional, 
and convince the Practical, of the Strength , Wisdom 
and Beauty, of the grand design of the great Master 
Artist. But this was not all the work of preparation 
which Moses was divinely commissioned to perform,. 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


lor we find him saying these words: “I am an Hun¬ 
dred and Twenty years old this day. I can no more 
go out and come in; also, The Lord hath said unto 
Me, Thou shalt Not go over this Jordan. Now, there¬ 
fore, Write ye this Song, and teach it the Children of 
Israel. Moses, therefore, Wrote this Song the same 
day and taught it the children of Israel, and it came 
to pass, when Moses had made an end of Writing the 
words of this Law in a Book until they were finished, 
that Moses commanded the Levites which bare the 
Ark of the covenant, saying: Take This Book of the 
Law and Put it in the Side of the Ark of the Covenant of 
The Lord your God , that it may be there for a Witness 
against thee.” 

Moses, having spoken these significant words in 
the presence of the assembled tribes of All Israel, 
and after delivering a solemn charge to Joshua , the 
-Son of Nun, to lead the people in the fear of God, left 
the plains of Moab, according to the Record, “And 
Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the 
mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah that is over 
against Jericho; and the Lord showed him all the 
land of Gilead unto Dan, and the Lord said unto him, 
This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto 
Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy 
seed, I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, 
But thou shalt Not go over thither. So Moses, the 
servant of the Lord, Died there in the land of Moab, 


78 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


according to the Word of The Lord. “This is the- 
contents of the Book of Deuteronomy—which is The 
Book of The Law Given to Moses on Tables of Stone , cut 
by the Hand of God, Copied by Moses at God's command — 
Written in a Book, and that Book of the Law, Deposited 
in an Ark, Built by God's measurements and under His 
supervision by chosen Workmen , Placed in charge of a 
Certain Family of Levites, who were specially prepared 
for their duties in the care of the Ark and the Taber¬ 
nacle, wh ich also had been builded as a Besting Place for 
the Ark during the journey through the Wilderness. And, 
of all the varied Systems of the Worship of Deity, 
there is but One System and One Method of Worship 
that is Authorized by the Creator—of the visible Uni¬ 
verse—and the plain Record of the Beginning of the 
True Worship of The True God was written by the 
very man that received instructions from the awful 
voice of the Lord God of Israel—The True and Only 
God of the Heaven above and the Earth beneath of 
the vast Universe of Nature and Man. 

As the Book of Genesis is the Record of the Begin¬ 
ning of the Physical System in Nature with One Man 
as the central figure of interest who talked with the 
Creator, amid the fresh beauty of a Newly Created 
Universe, So Moses, in the Book of Deuteronomy, has 
left the Record of The Beginning of the Spiritual Life of 
the Human Race. For as Adam emerged from the gar¬ 
den of Eden into an untried wilderness, So Jacob the 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


79 


Father of Israel, Sojourned in the land of the Egyp¬ 
tians, and, as the Children of Israel were liberated 
and led forth, by a mighty heaven inspired Charac¬ 
ter, who received his commission from the very lips 
of the Almighty, Signed by the Finger of God, on en¬ 
during Tables of solid Stone, Such was the Beginning 
of True Worship of The One True God— Veiled! to the 
children of Israel, by the rude Types and Symbols, 
that are interpolated throughout the strange narra¬ 
tive of their journey, from the land of Egypt’s Bond¬ 
age to the land of Promise. And, for this reason The 
Story of the Creation, in the Book of Genesis; The 
Story of Departure from Egypt, in the Book of Ex- , 
odus; The Code of Laws of Israel, in the Book of Le¬ 
viticus; The Organization of the People, in the Book 
of Numbers, and finally, The Re-Capitulation by 
Moses, in the presence of all the people of Israel, of 
the Words of almighty God, spoken to him, amid 
the awful convulsions of Earth and the Thunder of 
Heaven witnessed in the mountain of Sinai, Of the 
Presentation of the Ten Commandments, Of the 
divinely designed Ark of the Covenant, which 
was to become the sacred repository of the Book 
of The Law of God, and be in turn deposited in a 
Building that was also built according to the direc¬ 
tion of The Lord, as to Material and Measurement of 
The Tabernacle of God within the Camp; of the 
peculiar and sacred duties of the Tribe of Levi. And, 


80 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


at the close of One Hundred and Twenty Years of 
active life, amid circumstances and environments that 
were simply Appalling in their Awful Reality and 
Terrible Nearness to the Supernatural, we find the 
Writer of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, 
calmly writing the Book of Deuteronomy—Writing a 
Copy of The Words of The Lord, and causing this 
Book of God’s Law to be placed in the side of the Ark 
of the Covenant, and after telling the people of the 
power and love of The Lord, for His Obedient Chil¬ 
dren, and counselling them against any rebellion at 
the leadership of Deity, Moses! fully realizing that 
his life-work was finished, calmly resigned his posi¬ 
tion as Israel’s leader, to Joshua, the Son of Nun— 
and the Book of Deuteronomy closes with the simple 
account of the Death of Moses, and the assumption 
of leadership by the Son of Nun, Who was charged 
by Moses to lead the Children of Israel across the 
Jordan River into the land of Canaan. Thus the Five 
Books of Moses form the One Book of The Law, and, 
olosing with the Book of Deuteronomy, Complete the 
Record of the Teaching of the Israelites by the Lord 
God of Israel, a course of instruction that was per¬ 
fected by years of travel in the wilderness, and with 
an assurance from the great Teacher of an ultimate 
entrance into the promised home of Peace and Plenty— 
a Home that was now within sight just over on the 
Other Side of Jordan, “Toward the Sun Rising And 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


81 


it is the object of the Writer! to trace the journey of 
this Book of The Laic from the time of its Edition and 
Deposit in the Ark until the Present Day! And in order 
to properly begin the historic Pilgrimage from the 
Tabernacle to The Temple, it is imperative that we 
Know the Date of this wonderful Book of The Laic , and 
by a careful reference to the Chronological History of 
Egypt, and also that of the Contemporaneous History 
of the Hebrew People, we find that in the year of 
1491, B. C., The Exodus was accomplished, and that 
exactly 40 years after the Exodus, the Hebrews had 
reached the Jordan River, and that while within sight 
of the Promised Land, Moses had written the Oriental 
Epic or Descriptive Song, in which all the leading 
events of that marvelous deliverance were carefully 
Chronicled by him; and a single glance at the Book 
of The Law, whether by means of ancient Hebrew 
tongue! Targum! Manuscript! or Roll; Parchment, of 
the Middle or Dark Ages of History, or the Author¬ 
ized Version of The Holy Bible of King James Edition, 
is a clear demonstration of this positive Fact, That 
Moses actually placed the Book of the Law in the Ark of 
the Covenant in the year of 11+51, B. C., and, in conse¬ 
quence of this accurate Data, we also find that the 
time elapsing from the Completion of the Wilderness 
journey and the writing of the Book of the Laic to the 
time of the Completion of the Temple of The Lord in 
the City of Jerusalem, was from 11+51, B. C., to 1005, 


82 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


B. C., or W Years; during which time the Tabernacle 
was to be the Only Repository of The Ark: and while the 
Ark itself was in the possession of the Hebrew Peo¬ 
ple, The God of Israel would protect them, and we 
find by the same data that the Ark Remained with the 
Hebrews as long as they were obedient to the Com¬ 
mands of God. But, upon their refusal to Obey, Mis¬ 
fortune had been foretold by Moses, as a certain Re¬ 
sult, and in order that a proper understanding of the 
great design of Masonry may be obtained and an ap¬ 
preciation of its value fully and freely enjoyed, it will 
be necessary that we trace the Hebrews from the time 
of the Death of Moses until the Completion of The Tem¬ 
ple in Jerusalem; and it is the earnest desire of the 
writer to demonstrate this positive Fact, That 
by a Careful and Exhaustive Study of the 
Bible , which is the Great Light of Civilization, 
a clear, concise statement, of perfectly connected 
Events will prove that Masonry differs from all earthly 
institutions, in the same proportion and manner of de¬ 
tail, as the Worship of the Children of Israel, His 
Chosen Ones, differed from the rude attempt of the 
primitive and unlearned Savage to conciliate the Sun. 
Because as The Lord God of the Universe looked upon 
His People, and formulated a plan by which He could im¬ 
prove and teach them, So it is true of this institution of 
Masonry —that it differs from every organization of 
men in this one particular and peculiar Fact: Masonry! 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


83 


Was instituted t)ij The Lord, and ivas Given by the Lord 
God of Israel to Moses. And the succeeding events in 
the History of Israel will prove that Masonry in the 
Ancient Craft was the practical method by which The 
Lord established communication with His people, and 
the sacred Tabernacle that enclosed the Ark, with the 
Book of The Law hidden within its side, were Symbols 
of Divine Guidance and Presence of The Lord ivith His 
People, and this is the teaching of The Ancient Craft of 
Masonry, from the days of Moses, the Chosen of God as 
The Master in Israel. After the death of Moses, and 
the succession of Joshua to the leadership of Israel, 
The Lord God of Israel showed His Presence, by the sa¬ 
cred Ark. “And The Lord said unto Joshua! This Day 
will I begin to magnify Thee in the sight of all Israel 
that they may know that as I was with Moses, So I ivill 
be icith Thee!” God had shown His terrible power to 
help this people and to Destroy their enemies, all the 
way from Egypt to the Jordan River. And now 
as Moses had gone the way of All the Earth, The 
Lord showed Joshua that He would still protect and 
lead the people into the land that He had promised 
unto their Fathers, and a command was laid upon 
Joshua to Test The Lord by obedience to his very 
Words—“And thou shalt command the Priests, that 
bear the Ark of the Covenant, saying, When ye are 
come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall 
stand still in Jordan.” Joshua was an earnest man; 


84 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


he was willing to test the Lord by a perfect Obedience 
to His Will. “And Joshua said unto the children of 
Israel, Come hither! and hear the Words of the Lord 
your God. Hereby! ye shall know that the living God is 
among you. Behold, the Ark of the Covenant of the 
Lord of All the Earth, Passeth Over before you into 
Jordan. And it shall come to pass, as soon as the 
soles of the feet of the Priests that bear the Ark of the 
Lord, The Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the 
waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be 
cut off from the waters that come down from above, 
and they shall stand upon a heap. And it came to 
pass, as they that bare the Ark were come unto Jor¬ 
dan and the feet of the Priests that bare the Ark were 
dipped in the brim of the water, that the waters which 
came down from above, Stood, and Rose Up! upon a 
Heap! very far from the City Adam, that is beside 
Zaretan. And those that came down toward the Sea, 
of the plain, even the Salt sea, failed, and were cu^ 
off, and the people passed over.” Thus we find a 
Duplicate, of the Red Sea passage, through the Jor¬ 
dan ! The passage of the Red Sea was effected by the 
Act of Moses, in Stretching Out his hand over the 
sea, at the word of God, and the passage of the Jor¬ 
dan River was effected by the Obedience of Joshua 
and the Priests to the Word which was so plainly 
spoken to them, instead of a hand stretched out over 
the water, the feet were to be immersed ivitliin its 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


85 


waves, and this passage becomes more wonderful 
when we remember that The Jordan River was a 
rushing stream, whose rapid descent over steep 
grades has earned its name, Yardan (“the Swift”), 
which name, being translated into the English Lan¬ 
guage, is rendered Jordan! And it is a fact, that the 
presence of the Ark of the Covenant was sufficient to 
arrest the surging torrent of that mighty stream 
of descending waters, according to the Scripture 
record. “And the Priests that bare the Ark of the 
Covenant of the Lord Stood firm on Dry Ground in 
the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed 
over on dry ground, until all the people were passed 
clean over Jordan.” Joshua was from that time re¬ 
garded as a divinely appointed leader as Moses had 
heretofore been regarded, and the Lord kept the 
promise He had made to Joshua, for we read that 
“On that Day, the Lord magnified Joshua in the 
sight of all Israel, and they feared him as they feared 
Moses, all the days of his life. And the Lord spake 
unto Joshua, saying, Command the Priests that bear 
the Ark of the Testimony, that they come up out of 
Jordan. Joshua therefore commanded the Priests, 
saying, Come ye up out of Jordan! And it came to 
pass when the Priests that bare the Ark of the Cove¬ 
nant of the Lord w T ere come up out of the midst 
of Jordan, and the soles of the Priests’ feet were 
lifted up into the dry land, that the waters of Jordan 


86 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Returned unto their place, and flowed over all his 
banks, as they did before.” 

This description, in the Book of Joshua, of the 
stupendous scene of a mighty River, suddenly ar¬ 
rested, and again as suddenly allowed to resume its 
normal condition, is without a counterpart in the his¬ 
tory of Nature. Rivers have been known to suddenly 
precipitate their waters into a subterranean crevasse, 
and after flowing for a time in the hidden chasm 
of the Earth, to again Re-emerge into the light of 
day, and find a level upon a surface bed. But never 
has a River of its own Volition piled its swiftly flow¬ 
ing waters, “in a heap,” and remain in that abnormal 
state in passiveness—until that Morning! when the 
Ark of the Covenant appeared upon the Brink of the 
Jordan, borne in the hands of those divinely appointed 
Levites, whose sacred duty was to attend to the Ark 
and the Tabernacle. 

This wonderful event was consummated in the 
presence of the thousands of Israel, and is a Recorded 
Fact! in the annals of Hebrew History. And as the 
Book of Joshua plainly declares the wondrous Power 
of God by the presence of the Ark, So All the Books 
from the Book of Joshua, to the Chronicles of the 
Kings of Israel, are filled with Awe-inspiring circum¬ 
stances that only became possible because of the Pres¬ 
ence of God in the visible Ark of His own Workmanship! 
The first of these wonderful manifestations of su- 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


87 


preme power in the presence of the Ark, after pass¬ 
ing through Jordan, was at the city of Jericho! When 
as the Priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant passed 
for the seventh time around the City Walls, at the 
Voice of Joshua! The Walls of solid masonry fell be¬ 
fore the fearful power that was concealed within the 
Ark of God. During the times that are recorded in the 
Book of the Judges! There is but little mention of the 
Ark of the Covenant. But in the Book of Samuel, the 
Prophet of Israel, There is an account in the 3d chap¬ 
ter, of a child, who ministered to a Priest by the name 
of Eli. And the reader is further informed that “ The 
House of the Lord teas at Shiloh , and the Ark of God ivas 
there” And we are also told in the Fourth chapter 
(I. Sam. 4) of the First Book of Samuel, that when 
the Israelites were threatened with defeat at the 
hands of the Philistines, they sent to Shiloh, to bring 
the Ark of the Covenant to the place of the Battle. 
“So the people sent to Shiloh , that they might Bring 
from thence the Ark of the Covenant of The Lord of 
Hosts. And when the Ark of the Covenant of the 
Lord came into the camp, All Israel shouted with a 
great Shout! And when the Philistines heard the 
noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise 
of this great Shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And 
they understood that The Ark of The Lord was come 
into the camp, And the Philistines were afraid, for 
they said God is Come into the Camp. And they said, 


88 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing 
heretofore. And the Philistines fought and Israel 
was smitten and they fled every man into his tent and 
there was a very great slaughter, for there fell of 
Israel Thirty Thousand footmen, and the Ark of God 
'was taken. And the Philistines took the Ark of God, 
and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. When the 
Philistines took the Ark of God, they brought it into 
the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon; and when 
they of Ashdod arose, early on the morrow, Behold! 
Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the 
Ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon and set him 
in his place again, and when they arose early on the 
morrow morning, Behold! Dagon was fallen upon his 
face to the ground, before the Ark of the Lord; and 
the head of Dagon and both the Palms of his hands, 
were cut off. And when the men of Ashdod saw that it 
was so, they said, the Ark of the God of Israel shall not 
abide with us, for his hand is sore upon us and 
upon Dagon our god. They sent therefore and gath¬ 
ered all the Lords of the Philistines unto them 
and said: What shall we do with the Ark of the God 
of Israel? And they answered: Let the Ark of the 
God of Israel be carried about unto Gath! And they 
carried the Ark of the God of Israel about thither. 
And it was so that after they had carried it about, 
The hand of The Lord was against the City with a 
very great destruction. Therefore, they sent the Ark 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


89* 


of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the Ark of 
God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, 
saying: They have brought about the Ark of the 
God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people. So 
they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines 
and said: Send away the Ark of the God of Israel, 
and let it go again to his own place; that it slay us not 
and our people, for there w r as a deadly destruction 
throughout all the City. The hand of God was very 
heavy there, and the Ark of the Lord was in the 
country of the Philistines Seven Months. And the 
Philistines called for the Priests, and the Diviners, 
saying: What shall we do to the Ark of the Lord? 
Tell us! Wherewith we shall send it to his place. 
And they said: If ye send away the Ark of the God 
of Israel, send it not empty. Now, therefore, Make 
a New Cart, and take Two Milch Kine, on which there 
hath come No Yoke , and Tie the Kine to the Cart and 
bring their calves home from them, and take the Ark 
of the Lord and lay it upon the Cart, and put the jew¬ 
els of Gold which ye return Him for a Trespass 
Offering in a Coffer by the side thereof and Send it 
away! that it may go; and see! If it goeth up by the 
way of his own coast to Bethshemesh, then He hath 
done us this great evil. And the men did so, and took 
two milch kine and tied them to the Cart, and shut up 
their Calves at home; and they laid the Ark of the 
Lord upon the Cart, and the Coffer with the Mice of 


W THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 

Gold, and the Kine Took the Straight Way to the way 
of Bethshemesh, and went along the highway, lowing 
as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or 
to the left. And the lords of the Philistines went after 
them unto the Border of Bethshemesh, and they of 
Bethshemesh were reaping their Wheat Harvest in 
the Valley. And they lifted up their eyes and saw 
the Ark, and rejoiced to see it; and the Cart came into 
the field of Joshua, a Beth-Shemite, and stood there 
where there was a great Stone! And they clave the 
Wood of the Cart, and Offered the Kine, a Burnt 
Offering unto the Lord. And the Levites took down 
the Ark of the Lord and the Coffer that was with it, 
wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the 
great stone, and the men of Bethshemesh Offered 
Burnt Offerings and Sacrificed Sacrifices the same 
day unto the Lord. And when the Five Lords of the 
Philistines had seen it they returned to Ekron the 
same day; and He Smote the men of Bethshemesh 
because they had looked into the Ark of the Lord; 
and they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath- 
Jearim, saying: The Philistines have brought again 
the Ark of the Lord; Come ye down and fetch it 
to you. And the men of Kirjath-Jearim came and 
fetched up the Ark of the Lord, and brought it into 
the house of Abinadab in the Hill , and sanctified Elea- 
zar, his Son, to keep the Ark of the Lord. And it 
came to pass, while the Ark abode in Kirjath-Jearim 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


91 


that the time was long, for it teas Twenty Years” 

And from this time until the Reign of David in the 
year 1042 B. C., the Ark of God remained in the 
house of Abinadab in Kirjath-Jearim, according to 
the ancient record of the First and Second Books of 
Samuel the Prophet of Israel. But, in this year of 
the Reign of David (1042 B. C.), David seems to have 
been impressed with a desire to bring the Ark of God 
from Kirjath-Jearim to Jerusalem the Castle of Zion 
and The City of David. For “David gathered to¬ 
gether all the chosen men of Israel—Thirty Thou¬ 
sand. And David arose and went with all the people 
that were with him, from Baale of Judah (Kirjath- 
Jearim) to bring up from thence the Ark of God. And 
they set the Ark of God upon a New Cart and brought 
it out of the house of Abinadab, and Uzza and Ahio 
the Sons of Abinadab drove the new Cart, and when 
they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzza put forth 
his hand to the Ark of God, and Took Hold of it, for 
the Oxen shook it. And God smote him there for his 
error, and there he died by the Ark of God; and Da¬ 
vid was afraid of the Lord that day, and said, How 
shall the Ark of the Lord come to me? 

So David would not remove the Ark of the Lord 
unto him in the City of David, But David carried it 
aside into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite! and 
the Ark of the Lord continued in the house of Obed-Edom 
the Gittite Three Months, and the Lord blessed Obed- 


92 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Edom and all his household. And it was told King 
David saying, The Lord hath blessed the house of 
Obed-Edom and all that pertaineth unto him because 
of the Ark of God. So David went and brought up the 
Ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom, into the 
City of David with gladness. So David and all the 
house of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with 
shouting, and with the sound of the Trumpet. And 
they brought in the Ark of the Lord, and set it in His 
Place , in the midst of the Tabernacle, that David had 
Pitched for it. And David Offered Burnt Offerings and 
Peace Offerings' before the Lord. And it came to 
pass, when the King sat in his house, and the Lord 
had given him rest round about from all his enemies 
that the King said to Nathan the Prophet, See Now! I 
dwell in an house of Cedar. But the Ark of God dwell- 
eth within Curtains A Samuel tells us that Hiram the 
King of Tyre, had sent messengers to David, and Cedar 
Trees, and Carpenters, and Masons, “and they Built Da¬ 
vid an House.” (II. Sam. 5.) 

David had been a Victorious King of Israel, from 
the time that the Philistine Giant had fallen before 
the shepherd boy, and the maids of Israel sang the 
praises of his powers—“Saul hath slain his thou¬ 
sands; David! his Tens of Thousands”—a Song that 
roused the jealous spirit of murder in the dark soul of 
King Saul, until Hiram the King of Tyre had presented 
him with the royal gift of a Palace of Cedar. And as 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


93 


David was sitting in this luxurious home, he remem¬ 
bered that the Ark of God , containing the Law of Israel, 
was yet in a Temporary Resting place. He remembered 
that the Curtains of a Tabernacle were the only covering 
of this precious Charter of Israel's God. And in ac¬ 
cordance with a Custom among all Eastern people, The 
King conferred with the Prophet, as to the condition of 
the Ark, that was of such a priceless value to the He¬ 
brew People, and to him who was their leader, cham¬ 
pion, and King! And the details and result of that 
interview between the King of Israel and the Prophet 
of God is contained only in the Writings of Scripture. 
“And it came to pass that night that the Word of the 
Lord came unto Nathan the prophet, saying Go and 
tell my servant David, Thus Saitji The Lord, Whereas, 
I have not dwelt in any house, since the time that I 
brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, But 
have walked in a Tent, and in a Tabernacle, Now there¬ 
fore! So shalt thou say, Unto my servant David! I 
will appoint a place for My People Israel, and will Plant 
Them! that they may dwell in a place of their own; and 
when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with 
thy Fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, and I ivill 
establish his Kingdom. He shall build an House for my 
name, and I will stablish the throne of his Kingdom 
forever. According to all these Words, So did Nathan 
speak unto David." 

This plain Record is still kept in the two Books of 


94 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Samuel the Prophet of Israel, and by a careful study 
of the Ancient Chronicles, or the History of the Kings, 
we find the result of Nathan's prophecy to the King 
in regard to the Building of a House of Rest for the 
Ark of the Covenant, to be fully supported and veri¬ 
fied by the History that followed. In the closing 
chapters of the First Book of Chronicles, there is a 
full description of the impression that was made upon 
the mind of King David by the Word of the Lord from 
the lips of Nathan the prophet; and the manner of 
David’s resignation, of his plan to build a house for 
the Lord, and his acceptance of God’s Choice in the 
person of David’s Son, are evidences of a Soul that 
amid the dark thoughts and evil deeds of a highly 
tense and passionate nature, still intended to show a 
desire to please God by doing reverence to His Holy 
Law in the Building of a Temple for The Ark of The 
Lord. David, upon realizing that God had already 
Chosen his Builder, Acknowledged the justice of 
God’s decree in regard to himself; and the actual 
Words of David, in the 28th and 29th Chapters of the 
First Chronicles, Explain his intention to build a 
house of rest for the Ark, and also of God’s disposal 
of that intention by His choice of the Son of David. 
“And David assembled all the Princes of Israel unto 
Jerusalem. Then David the King stood up upon his 
feet and said: Hear Me, My Brethren and My Peo¬ 
ple. As for me I had in mine heart to build an house 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


95 


of rest for the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, and 
had made ready for the Building. But God said unto 
me, Thou shalt not build an house for my name, Because 
Thou hast been a man of War , and hast shed Blood. 
And He said unto me: Solomon! thy Son, He Shall Build 
My House and My Courts. ” And after telling Solomon 
of the importance of the great work that God had 
chosen him to perform, David proceeded to advise 
him from his own past experience with the God of 
Israel; and we find him an old man looking at the 
splendid youth before him, glowing with the beauty 
of his Mother and the Stern Power of his royal Sire. 
And thus he speaks with the voice of Age, Wisdom, 
and Experience, to the Son that God has chosen to 
lead Israel in the future: “And Thou! Solomon my 
Son, Know thou the God of thy Father and serve Him 
■with a perfect heart and with a willing Mind; for the 
Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the 
imaginations of the thoughts. If thou seek Him he 
will be found of thee, But if thou forsake Him He 
will cast thee off forever. Take heed now, for the 
Lord hath chosen thee to build an house for the Sanctuary. 
Be Strong! and Do it.” Thus did the wise-hearted 
King instruct the youthful Prince of Israel by show¬ 
ing him the necessity of a careful attention to the 
commands of the great God of Israel. And then, 
realizing the fact of the practical help which he could 
supply to Solomon, David immediately transferred all 


^96 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


the Patterns for the ivork, together with all the material 
which He had made ready according to the record of 
Scripture. ‘ ‘Then David gave Solomon, his Son, The Pat¬ 
tern of the Porch, and of the Houses thereof, and of the 
Treasuries thereof, and of the Upper Chambers thereof, 
and of the Inner Parlours thereof, and of the place of the 
Mercy Seat, and the Pattern of All that he had by The 
Spirit, of the Courts of the house of the Lord, and of 
all the Chambers round about, of the Treasuries of the 
house of God, and of the Treasuries of the Dedicated 
things; Also! for the courses of the Priests and the 
Levites, and for all the ivork of. The Service of The House 
of the Lord, and for all the Vessels of Service in the 
house of The Lord. He gave of Gold by weight, for 
things of Gold, for all instruments of all manner of 
service; Silver also, for all instruments of silver by 
Weight —for all instruments of every kind of Service, 
even the iveiglit for the Candle Sticks of gold, and for 
their Lamps of gold, and for the Candle Sticks of sil¬ 
ver, by weight both for the Candle Stick, and also for 
the Lamps thereof—and by weight he gave gold for 
the Tables of Shew Bread for every table, and likewise 
silver for the Tables of Silver ; Also! pure gold for the 
Flesh Hooks, and the Boivls, and the Cups; and for the 
Golden Basins he gave gold by weight for every basin; 
likewise, silver by weight for every Basin of Silver; 
and, for the Altar of Incense refined gold by weight; and 
gold for the Pattern of the Chariot of the Cherubims that 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


97 


spread out their Wings and Cohered the Ark of the Cove¬ 
nant of the Lord. All this, said David, the Lord made 
me understand in ivriting By His Hand upon me, even 
all the works of this Pattern. 

And David said to Solomon his son, Be Strong and 
of Good Courage, and Do it. Fear Not! nor be dis¬ 
mayed, for the Lord God, even My God, will be with 
thee. He will not. fail thee, nor forsake thee, until 
thou hast finished all the work for the service of The 
House of The Lord. Furthermore! David the King 
said unto all the Congregation, Solomon my Son, 
whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and ten¬ 
der, and the work is great, for The Palace is Not for 
Man, But for the Lord God. Now I have prejiared with 
all my might for the House of My God the Gold for 
things to be made of gold, and the Silver for things of 
silver, the Brass for things of brass, the Iron for 
things of iron, and Wood for things of wood; Onyx 
Stones, and stones to be Set; Glistening Stones, and 
of divers Colours, and all manner of Precious Stones, 
and Marble stones in abundance. Moreover, because I 
have set my affection to the house of my God, I have 
of mine own proper good, of Gold and Silver, which I 
have given to the house of my God, over and above 
all that I have prepared for the holy House, even 
Three Thousand Talents of Gold, of the Gold of Ophir, 
and Seven Thousand Talents of Refined Silver, to 
overlay the Walls of the house withal; the gold for 


7 


98 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


things of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and 
for all manner of work to be made by the hands 
of Artificers. And who then is willing to consecrate 
his service this day unto the Lord? Then the chief of 
the Fathers and Princes of the Tribes of Israel, and 
the Captains of thousands and of Hundreds, with the 
Rulers of the King’s work, Offered Willingly, and 
gave for the service of the house of God, of Gold 
Five Thousand Talents and Ten Thousand Drams, 
and of Silver! Ten Thousand Talents, and of Brass 
Eighteen Thousand Talents, and One Hundred Thou¬ 
sand Talents of Iron. And they with whom Precious 
Stones were found gave them to the treasure of the 
house of the Lord, by the hand of Jehiel the Ger- 
shonite.” And the mind is fairly overwhelmed by the 
aggregation of Wealth that was given by willing 
hands for the single purpose of the erection of a 
House for the Ark of the Covenant of the God of 
Israel. The Presentation of the material for the 
house of God was accompanied by a prayer to the 
God of Israel, uttered by King David and assented to 
by all the thousands of Israel. ‘Wherefore David 
Blessed the Lord before all the congregation: and 
David said, Blessed Be Thou, Lord God of Israel Our 
Father, for ever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the great¬ 
ness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, 
and the majesty: for all t'hat is in the heaven and in 
the earth is thine: Thine is the Kingdom, O Lord, and 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


99 


thou art exalted as head over all, for we are strangers 
before thee, and sojourners , as were all our fathers: 
Our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is 
none abiding. O Lord our God! All this store that 
we have prepared to build thee an house for thy Holy 
Name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own. O 
Lord! God of Abraham! Isaac! and of Israel! Our 
Fathers! Keep this forever in the imagination of the 
thoughts of the heart of thy people, and j)repare their 
heart unto Thee; and give unto Solomon my Son a 
perfect heart, to keep thy Commandments, thy Testi¬ 
monies, and thy Statutes, and to do all these things! 
and to Build the Palace, for the which I have made 
provision. And David said to all the Congregation, 
Now Bless the Lord your God. And all the congrega¬ 
tion Blessed the Lord God of their fathers, and bowed 
down their heads, and worshipped the Lord. And. 
offered burnt offerings unto the Lord, on the morrow 
after that day, even a Thousand Bullocks, a Thousand; 
Rams, and a Thousand Lambs, with their Drink, 
offerings, and Sacrifices in abundance for All Israel:: 
and did eat and drink before the Lord on that day 
with great gladness. And they made Solomon the son 
of David King the second time, and anointed him 
unto the Lord to be Chief Governor, and Zadok to be 
Priest. Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord 
as King instead of David his father, and prospered; 
and All Israel obeyed him. And the Lord magnified 


100 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and 
bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not 
been on any king before him in Israel.” 

This is the glorious and truthful narrative of the 
actual preparation of David to build the house of God, 
which intention was set aside by the Lord in favor of 
Solomon his son. The first act of Solomon, after 
being fully installed in his glorious position of un¬ 
limited wealth and power, was to assemble the entire 
congregation of Israel at Gibeon. We are told, in 
the first chapter of the Second Book of the Chronicles, 
that “There! was the Tabernacle which Moses, the ser¬ 
vant of God, had made in the wilderness /” here was the 
sacred Tent made by Moses, and over whose folded 
curtains the pillar of fire had hovered for many years 
during the wilderness journey. It was a fitting place 
for the great knight to visit, at the beginning of his 
reign, for the pattern of the house of God ivas modelled 
from this ancient Tabernacle of Moses. The Ark of God 
was not in the Tabernacle, for David had built a tempor¬ 
ary restingplace for it in the City of Jerusalem. But 
Solomon saw the Brazen Altar that Bezaleel had made; 
for thus reads the Record, “And Solomon and all 
the congregation sought unto it, and Solomon w T ent 
up thither to the Brazen Altar before the Lord, and 
offered a Thousand Burnt Offerings upon it.” The 
Student of Masonry will not fail to observe the rigid 
ceremonial practices, which were all in accord with 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


101 


the commands of the Lord God of Israel, and that 
upon every observance of these sacrifices there was a 
demonstration of the Divine Power in favor of the 
person making the offering. It was thus with Solo¬ 
mon, for “In that Night did God appear unto Solo¬ 
mon, and said unto him, Ask What I shall give thee. 
And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast shewed great 
mercy unto David my father, and hast made me to 
reign in his stead. Now, O Lord God, let thy prom¬ 
ise unto David my father be established: for thou 
hast made me King over a people like the dust of the 
earth in multitude. Give me now Wisdom and Knowl¬ 
edge, that I may go out and come in before this peo¬ 
ple. And God said to Solomon, Because this was in 
thine heart, and thou hast not asked Riches, Wealth, 
or Honour, nor the Life of thine enemies, neither yet 
hast asked Long Life; But hast asked Wisdom and 
Knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my peo¬ 
ple, over whom I have made thee King: Wisdom and 
Knoivledge is granted unto thee ; and I will give thee 
riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the 
Kings have had that have been before thee, neither 
shall there any after thee have the like. Then Solo¬ 
mon came from his journey to the high place that 
was at Gibeon to Jerusalem. And Solomon determined 
to Build a House for the Name of the Lord." 

This is the record of the result of the journey through 
the Wilderness. The promised land of Canaan had been 


102 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


safely reached, under the leadership of Joshua, after 
the death of Moses, in the land of Moab. The Ark of the 
Covenant had never failed to bring success to the men 
of Israel, and defeat to their enemies even in the 
house of the Philistine god Dagon, and its capture 
had simply brought deadly destruction upon the 
Cities of its Captors. Guided by the mysterious but 
mighty power of Divine Providence, The Ark of the Cove¬ 
nant had reached the City of Jerusalem, ^nd teas at Rest, 
amid the people of Israel. The Army of “Forty Thou¬ 
sand fighting Men,” that crossed the Jordan River 
with Joshua, had grown into a great Nation of God 
Fearing People, who had built a Kingdom, which for 
wealth and power has never since been equalled in the 
history of the Nations of Earth. They had triumphed 
over all their foes by the prowess of their Shepherd 
King, The great David, who had met the Philistine 
Giant, single handed, and, with the shepherd’s sling, 
had thrown “the smooth stone from the Brook,” that 
ended the life of Goliath! the champion of Philistia. 
Well might the dark eyed Hebrew maidens blend the 
tones of Harp and Voice, “ Saul hath slain his thou¬ 
sands, David his Tens of thousands.” David had led the 
soldiers of Israel through Battle Darkness into Vic¬ 
tory’s Light. And now, Recognizing the fact that 
God had supported David his Father, and that per¬ 
sonal promise had been given unto himself from the Lord 
God of Israel, Solomon determined to build an house 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


103 


for the Name of the Lord. This is the authentic jour¬ 
nal of the travels of the Ark of the Covenant, from the 
day that Moses received God's orders to build it, by His 
special measurements, until the day that Solomon re¬ 
turned from The Tabernacle of the Wilderness at Gibeon 
to tjie City of David at Jerusalem. And as Solomon re¬ 
alized the gift of Wisdom and knoivledge with which 
God had endowed him, in direct answer to the real de¬ 
sire of his honest heart, Solomon, the Wise! determined 
that as the God of Israel had given him a Kingdom 
of superiority to all other Kingdoms of the world, He 
as its King! by the divine appointment of the Almighty, 
would build a Temple! in His Name that should far ex¬ 
ceed any earthly structure in the Wisdom which was 
required in its contrivance, the Strength needed in its 
support, and the Beauty with which its adornment 
would be crowned as a magnificent and Perfect Build¬ 
ing. The Plan of this Building , like the Plan of the 
Tabernacle, was to be laid out by the hand of The God 
of Israel. The material which had been ‘ ‘ Made Ready ” 
by King David* was to he fashioned and adorned by the 
skilled workmen of the Kingdom of Israel. As Solomon 
determined to build The Temple of God, he was all un¬ 
consciously combining all the previous efforts of the hu¬ 
man race to find and to worship in an acceptable manner 
The Only True God. The magnificent enterprise of 
King Solomon was well supported by the wonderful 
strength of the past history of the Hebrew people. 


104 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


God had led them, “Out of Egypt”—out of Egypt l 
The very name of Egypt suggests at once the great 
halls of Karnac! temple of the Sun. The Needles! 
that were standing as Obelisk Sentinels for a Thou¬ 
sand years, before Cleopatra! saw the light of Egypt’s 
Sunshine. Egypt, with her long list of ruined Cities, 
her Ancient Pyramids guarded by the solitary Lion¬ 
shaped Figure, crowned by the Face of Woman: Isis 
and Osiris had long been hurled from their thrones of 
superstitious devotion, and the Sea, the Red Sea! that 
had been crimsoned by the flowing blood of many a 
captive, loaded with Egyptian chains, had been lit¬ 
erally “Opened Up!” By “The Strong Wind Blowing 
from the East” “Jehovah has triumphed, His people 
are free”, so sang Miriam , and the triumph was com¬ 
plete. An Untried country, filled with hostile in¬ 
habitants,, was the scene of their weary pilgrimage 
for many years, But God was with them, the Wilder¬ 
ness Tabernacle had been Erected to God , the Ark of the 
Covenant had been safely preserved. Moses had written 
the Book of the Law , and had put it in the side of the Ark. 
Many years had passed over the Kingdom of the Chil¬ 
dren of Israel, But God had heard their prayers and 
had finally answered them completely. Abraham's 
Prayers were answered, in possession of Canaan Isaac's 
Prayers were answered , in the national prosperity Ja¬ 
cob's Prayer at Bethel was answered! ‘ ‘Blessed above all 
People.” 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


105 


David's Prayer for Solomon was noiv about to be an¬ 
swered in the glorious design of his wonderful Son to 
Build an House for the Name of The Lord God of Israel. 
The time had come at last, after ages of spiritual dark¬ 
ness and superstitious ignorance; After Centuries of 
Oppression; after millions of human lives had been 
sacrificed, in the vain attempt to mollify the anger of 
the superstitious deities of Earth and Skies; after the 
dread of the unknown future that caused the “Altar 
in Athens” to be inscribed by heathen hand, and read 
by the Master Mind of Paul “to the Unknown God” 
Solomon! the greatest monarch that ever wielded an 
earthly sceptre, Resolved! to Build a Temple! to the 
grandest and most powerful Being that ever deigned to 
hold converse with mortal Man; a Being! who possessed 
such power that the solid Earth quaked and trembled 
at His touch! and yet, a Being! that “Like as a Father 
pitieth his children, So The Lord pitieth them that 
fear Him.” This was the God of Abraham! the God of 
Isaac! and the God of Israel! And it was in obedience 
to the Command of the God of Israel! that the Taber¬ 
nacle was Built by Moses! The Ark of the Covenant was 
Built by Bezaleel and Aholiab. The Material for the 
Temple of the Lord God of Israel was collected and 
given by David, King of Israel, and his loyal people; 
and it was this same Deity that heard and answered 
the prayer of Solomon for wisdom and knowledge, 
while sacrificing at Gibeon 11 in the high place\” and it. 


106 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


was this True and Only God that witnessed and sanc¬ 
tioned the determination of the wise Solomon to Build a 
House for the Name of The Lord God of Israel. This 
is the Historic Record of the journey of the Children 
of Israel, from the Land of Egypt to the Tabernacle in 
the Wilderness, and from the Tabernacle in the Wilder¬ 
ness to the Temple in Jerusalem! From the Type of 
the Tent of the Traveler toivard the East! to the Reality 
of The Temple of The Lord God of Israel. 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


107 


CHAPTER III. 

THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE. 

King Solomon, having determined to build the Tem¬ 
ple, began the work immediately. The 2nd Book of 
Chronicles bears this record, “And Solomon told out 
Three Score and Ten Thousand Men to Bear Burdens , 
and Four Score Thousand to Heiv in the Mountain , and 
ThreeTliousand and Six Hundred to Over see them. ” Seventy 
Thousand Burden Bearers were appointed to labor upon 
the ground floor of The Temple, and in addition, Eighty 
Thousand Hewers were sent to the Mountain, and all 
these workmen were superintended by a corps of Three 
Thousand, Six Hundred Overseers, workmen who were 
masters of the building Art. The general labor upon the 
Temple was thoroughly Classified, and the workmen 
were disposed of in accordance with their merit and 
ability to perform their labor with patience, and a proper 
understanding of their' positions. Those who were first 
to enter upon the duties of a Burden Bearer were taught 
the method of approach and entrance to the great Tem¬ 
ple of God. The place of their labor was the ground 
floor of the house, and they were taught to obey the or¬ 
ders of the Overseers, and carried the materials of the 
building from point to point about the Temple, as the 
Overseers directed. Their working days were divided 


108 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


into regular hours, consisting of three sections of 
Eight Hours each. They were expected to labor for 
Eight hours in the Temple Work, under the supervision 
of the Overseers, and from labor they were called to re¬ 
freshment, which also consisted of the time of Eight 
Hours . During this time the workman of the Temple 
was expected to conduct himself with the strictest 
prudence , as became a workman employed in such a 
Noble and glorious enterprise, and having been found 
worthy of a position among the Burden Bearers and 
sharing with them the labor and refreshment hours, he 
yet had a remaining Eight Hours for Sleep, and thus to 
afford an opportunity for tired nature to recuperate 
the flagging energies, and to rest the brain of the 
workman for the coming days in which, by the care¬ 
ful development of the latent powers, under the compe¬ 
tent instruction of the Temple Officers, he expected to 
advance from the humble position of a Burden Bearer 
into a higher grade of Workmanship; and possibly, by a 
close application to the grand principles taught in the 
Temple , and, having been a faithful laborer, in a verjr 
humble vocation, he expected to gain the respect of his- 
fellow laborers, and the commendation of the Overseers y 
to such a degree as to merit an advancement to the 
more skilled branches of Temple workmanship. Of this 
class of workmen, there were Seventy Thousand that 
entered the Temple as Burden Bearers, and a careful 
study of the nature of the labor required of them will 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


109 


-convince the inquirer of one certain fact, Which is this, 
That if such a strict Standard of Principle and Labor 
was required of the Burden Bearer of the Temple work¬ 
men, It is also Certain that the workmen of the ad¬ 
vanced grades of labor were proportionately skilled in 
the practice of the higher duties of a more advanced de¬ 
velopment of mind and heart. Solomon had first Told 
Out the Seventy Thousand Burden Bearers, and next he 
appointed Eighty Thousand Hewers in the mountain. A 
Hewer was a man with a powerful arm and a trained 
eye—he was to enter the forests of the Cedars of Leba¬ 
non, and after ascertaining the perpendicularity of the 
great Cedars , he “Laid the Axe at the root of the 
trees,” and, as the mighty form of forest strength and 
beauty swayed and trembled beneath the blows of the 
Working Tool of the skilled Hewer, its sturdy compan¬ 
ions of the deep forest bend their noble heads, 
crowned with the heavy foliage of Centuries of natural 
growth, and as the tree selected for the Temple Building 
totters forward from its companions of many years, 
and, pausing a.moment in a silent farewell to forest 
friends, Outward! Downward! swiftly gathering force 
by its own momentum, obstructed , for an instant of 
suspense by the waving, moving sea of Tree tops, 
Then! amid the twitter of startled Birds, and the 
Brushing of the upper leaves, the final descent be¬ 
gins; as Rushing! Bending! Twisting! Tearing! Break¬ 
ing! Crashing! Down, down, down, Until, with a Roar 


110 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


like Thunder! The mighty giant of the Lebanon For¬ 
est lies prone upon the moss-grown sward beneath its 
mighty length, and the first Cedar of Lebanon has 
yielded its living powers to Man. And as the plumb 
is now useless, having performed its special duty in 
finding the given line of the perpendicular of the living 
tree, the Hewer! with the level and square proceeds to 
adjust the horizontal lines regulated by the angle of the 
measurement of the Overseer. 

This was the labor of the Hewer! in the mountain of 
Lebanon, and, as from the very fact of his preferment, 
it was desirable that he should be a skilled Artisan, 
accustomed to the use of the working tools of the Hewer, 
by constant and careful practice in each adjustment of 
their service as the department of labor naturally re¬ 
quired, and from the very nature of an apt mind while 
employed in actual labor, to apply the great principles 
of Virtue, by which principle every human life should be 
squared in all its varied relations with other lives. The 
principle of uprightness was also taught, because of the 
fact that as the true line of perpendicularity could be 
found only by the use of the Plumb. So the true line of 
upright honesty could only be kept in sight by a careful 
surveillance with the plumbline of Reason; and he was 
taught, that as the Cedar had been removed from its 
perpendicular position and lowered to an inanimate level 
to be hewed into a form according to the angle of a 
square, which was to be subdivided by the points of a 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Ill 


Compass. So should the ivorkman in the human hive 
of labor be industrious and careful in department while 
laboring with the ivorking tools of daily life experience. 
Like the Cedar, he stands among his fellow-men; The 
Scythe of Time removes him from the location of a life¬ 
time; like the Cedar of Lebanon, Man botes the kingly 
Head; the Form sivays in response to the bloiv delivered 
at the seat of life! He bids farewell to life and its vis¬ 
ionary fancies; the dreams of youth, like the frightened 
Birds, flit across the sky of memory, and, as the totter¬ 
ing Cedar seemingly pauses for an instant before be¬ 
ginning the swift and sure descent to earth, So Man! 
in the vigor of physical life and mental intelligence, 
pauses in the midst of active work and ivaits! while the 
heavy bloivs of adverse circumstances fall heavily upon 
the heart, takes silent, deliberate leave of those that 
still remain as friends, and, as the Cedar in descend¬ 
ing brushes its top against its nearest companions, 
So Man! realizing that ‘‘ the silver cord is loosedf for 
the last time extends a hand to those who have been 
felloiv-travelers in the journey of life, Looks! for the 
last time into eyes that may have been loving! selfish! 
critical! or indifferent! and, with Bowed Head and life¬ 
less heart, Man begins his decline, and falls with ever- 
increasing swiftness of velocity until, amid the sneers- 
of critics, praise of friends, sobs and tears of inter¬ 
ested relatives, silent love, and awful grief of real 
hearts, Man lies upon the level of the breast of his real 


112 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


mother Earth! “For Dust thou Art , and unto Dust shalt 
thou return. ” Time! is the Hewer of life and character; 
Time! with the Scythe of Death , lays us all upon a 
common level. “ The days of o,ur years are Three Score 
years and Ten.” This is the level of Time. “Thus He 
showed me, and Behold! the Lord stood upon a wall, 
made by a plumbline , and with a plumbline in his 
hand—Behold! I will set a plumbline in the midst of 
my people Israel; I will not again pass by them any 
more.” 

Thus, the Hewer in the mountain was taught the 
great lesson of real life —For he was taught that we 
are all travelers upon the level of Time toward an un¬ 
known and mysterious country. But while the skilled 
Hewers were thus taught to philosophize and to evolve 
the principles of the Ethical from the realities of the 
Practical , and thereby become enabled to increase their 
knowledge and capabilities with a just and proper cir¬ 
cumscription of all the follies of life, there yet remained 
a class of Temple Workmen that were far in advance 
of even the learning and experience of the Hewers of 
the mountain. These men were the Overseers! King 
Solomon had specially instructed Three Thousand and 
Six Hundred men to oversee the workmen in the Temple 
and the mountain, and they were well qualified for the 
position which they occupied by both Theoretical and 
Practical Experience. They understood the duty of 
■every man in his station, and if that duty was neglected 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


113 


or forgotten by any of the workers, the Overseer was 
expected to notice all neglect. If , from any cause, 
there was the slightest trace of dissatisfaction or lack 
of harmony in any department of Temple Work the 
Overseer was to examine it, find out the facts and re¬ 
move the cause of discord because of the ruling of King 
Solomon the Master Builder of the Temple. By his or¬ 
ders, The Temple was to be built in perfect harmony with 
all the rules of Operative Masonry in Architecture, 
and in the same grand Order was an imperative in¬ 
junction to every worker in the employ of the King, 
regardless of his grade or abilities to attend strictly 
to his own work and to a just and proper discharge 
of his duty, which was to be conducted in perfect 
harmony with all of the rest of the workmen employed 
upon or about The Temple of God. Harmony was 
the real principle of the Temple edifice. Harmony 
of measurement produced perfect form. Harmony 
of color resulted in a perfectly blended whole. From 
the cornerstone of the Foundation to the capstone of 
the structure, Harmony of construction was the one 
grand rule. This was necessitated because of the 
Architectural and Masonic Perfection of the divine Plan! 
which had been given by the God of Israel. And it 
was for this reason that the divinely appointed work 
of God should be completed in perfect peace that the 
workmen were counselled to work in harmonious unison , 
and in order that this happy condition should ever pre- 


114 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


vail in the ranks of the workmen the Overseers were 
placed at certain stations to watch the operation and 
issue instructions to the men who labored under their 
supervision. And as the Earth is lighted, and, in a 
measure, controlled by the celestial bodies above its 
surface. So in the same manner the Burden Bearers 
in the Temple, the Hewers in the Mountain and the 
Quarries, and the Overseers of all these workmen were 
controlled by the laiv of perfect harmony. 

The Overseers were responsible for any breach of har¬ 
mony during the hours of labor, and for laxity of 
morals when released from actual work during the time 
of recreation, and these Overseers were specially se¬ 
lected by the wisdom of King Solomon , because of their 
ability to Control, to Instruct, to Advise , and to act as 
Judges in the case of trouble or distress among the work¬ 
men. They were men of strong mind, firm judgment, 
and inflexible determination under the administration of 
King Solomon, Gifted by the Lord, with a fund of 
Wisdom from its fountain head, the Stations could not 
have been properly filled, had the incumbents been 
men of a low standard of mental, moral, and physical 
excellence. And thus Solomon the Wise! “Told Out” 
the number of properly qualified men that should assist 
in the gigantic enterprise of building a structure 
which was destined to be the Master piece of all 
Architecture for all time to come! A specimen of 
Architectural perfection which should inseparably 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


115 


connect the Wisdom of the God of Israel with the 
Genius of Solomon, and the details of this magnificent 
Temple, which as yet had existence in the mind of 
Solomon alone, would be incomplete should we 
forget the friendship of Hiram, the King of Tyre, for 
David. Hiram “Had ever been a lover of David,” 
and Solomon was enabled to show his Wisdom and 
knowledge of human nature in a practical manner, for 
in the very Beginning of the Temple design he re¬ 
membered the friendship which had existed between 
Hiram and David. The great King of Tyre had given 
abundant proof of his friendship for David in the act 
of princely kindness whereby he sent Carpenters 
and Masons and Cedar Trees to build a palace home 
for the man that was dear to his heart. Solomon re¬ 
membered this, and resolved to seek a personal re¬ 
newal of that close Alliance which had been of such 
a nature as to bind a Gentile King with ties of love to> 
the heart of the great David, the War King of the 
Hebrew People, and as Hiram had also heard of the 
death of his friend David, and the accession of 
Solomon to the throne of Israel, he also desired a con¬ 
tinuance of the amicable relations which had ever 
existed between the tw T o Kingdoms, and by reading 
the Fifth Chapter of the Book of the Kings, we find 
that the King of Tyre sent an embassy to the Court 
of Solomon, and assured him of the friendship of 
Hiram the King of Tyre. “And Hiram, King of 


116 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Tyre, sent bis servants unto Solomon, for he had heard 
that they had anointed him King in the room of his 
Father; for Hiram was ever a lover of David,” and 
Solomon at once returned the courtesy, which is 
Recorded in the Second Book of Chronicles, Second 
Chapter. “And Solomon sent to Hiram the King of 
Tyre, saying, As thou dids’t deal with David my 
Father, and dids’t send him Cedars to build him a 
house to dwell therein, even so deal with me. Behold, 
Thou knowest how that David my Father could not 
build a house unto the name of the Lord His God, 
for the Wars which were about him on every side. 
But now the Lord my God hath given me Rest on 
every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil 
occurrent, and, Behold, I purpose to Build a house 
unto the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spake 
unto David, my Father, saying, Thy Son, whom I 
will set upon thy throne in thy room, He shall build a 
house unto my name.” Solomon was very careful in 
his reply to the Ambassage of Hiram, to tell him of the 
Reason of his purpose to build the house, Because of 
the Word of the Lord. This is Recorded in the Fifth 
Chapter of the First Book of the Kings. Solomon also 
explained to Hiram, that the Temple was to be a house 
of perpetual worship of the God of Israel. (Second 
Chronicles, Second Chapter). Behold! I Build a 
house to the name of the Lord my' God , to Dedicate it to 
Him. and to Burn before Him Sweet Incense , and for 



THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


117 


the continual Shew Bread, and for the Burnt Offer¬ 
ings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths, and on the 
New Moons , and on the solemn Feasts of The Lord 
Our God. This is an Ordinance forever to Israel! And 
the house which I build is Great, For Great is Our 
God above All gods” Solomon, having told Hiram of 
the superiority of the God of Israel , over all other 
Deities, Entered at once upon his plan of work by re¬ 
questing Hiram, King of Tyre, to send A Master 
Mason! to take entire charge of the Building of the Tem¬ 
ple. “Send me now therefore a Man cunning to work 
in Gold, and in Silver, and in Brass, and in Iron, and in 
Purple, and Crimson , and Blue, and one that can skill 
to Grave with the cunning men that are with me in 
Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my Father did 
provide.” This was the first step of practical value 
that Solomon had yet taken in the Building of the 
Temple. But having taken the initial step, his next 
care was to request Hiram to send the Timber for the 
house, and the message was couched in the following 
language: “ Send me also Cedar Trees, Fir Trees, and 
Alcgum Trees, Out of Lebanon', Fori know that thy ser¬ 
vants can skill to cut Timber in Lebanon. Now, there¬ 
fore, command thou, that they Heiu me Cedar Trees 
Out of Lebanon, and my servants shall be with thy 
servants, and unto thee will I give hire for thy ser¬ 
vants, according to all that thou shalt appoint, for 
thou knowest there is not among us any that can 


118 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


skill to Hew Timber like unto the Sidonians! Even to 
prepare me Timber in abundance, for the House which 
I am about to build shall be wonderful great.” King 
Solomon also contracted with King Hiram to pay 
wages of Corn, Wine, and Oil to his servants for their 
labor. “And, Behold, I will give to thy servants, 
The Hewers that cut Timber , Twenty Thousand Meas¬ 
ures of Beaten Wheat, and Twenty Thousand Meas¬ 
ures of Barley, and Twenty Thousand Baths of Wine, 
and Twenty Thousand Baths of Oil.” This propo¬ 
sition of Solomon to Hiram was made for a strong 
Reason, For although David and the people had con¬ 
tributed liberally of Gold and Silver, and though the 
great Rock Quarries of “Marble Stones,” were within 
the province of Judea, yet Cedar! was not abundant 
in the kingdom of Solomon, and therefore it was not 
an easy matter to obtain the precious Cedar Trees 
without; the friendship of the King of Tyre, and even 
the skilled Hewers were the servants of King Hiram, 
and their services could not be obtained without the 
co-operation and support of Hiram King of Tyre. And 
the Record tells us that Hiram answered the proposition 
of Solomon in writing according to the Eastern Custom. 
“Then Hiram the King of Tyre answered in writing, 
which he sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the 
things which thou sentest to me for, and I will do all 
thy desire concerning Timber of Cedar, and concern¬ 
ing Timber of Fir. My servants shall Bring them 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


119 


dozen from Lebanon unto the Sea, and I ivill convey them 
by Sea in floats unto the place that thou shalt appoint me, 
and will cause them to be discharged there, and thou 
shalt receive them, and thou shalt accomplish my de¬ 
sire in giving food for my household. So Hiram gave 
Solomon Cedar Trees and Fir Trees according to all his 
desire, and Solomon gave Hiram Twenty Thousand 
Measures of Wheat for food to his household, and 
Twenty Measures of pure Oil. Thus gave Solomon 
to Hiram year by year, and the Lord gave Solomon 
Wisdom , as He had promised him, and there was Peace 
between Hiram and Solomon, and They Tivo Made a 
League together .” 

This league of the two Kings, Hiram and Solomon, 
was the human beginning of practical Masonry, for 
after the two men had formed their compact of friend¬ 
ship, morality, and brotherly love , the actual Building of 
the Temple began in earnest! Under the eyes of these 
two men, who were the First Masons in the history of 
the Craft, that practiced operative Masonry in the con¬ 
struction of a permanent Building, erected upon prin¬ 
ciples of Masonic Laic. Moses had received from God 
the masoziic measurements of the Az'h and the Tabernacle, 
and Bezaleel and Aholiab had executed that great de¬ 
sign; But they were taught by Jehovah! in order that 
His plans might be fulfilled to the letter. But in the 
case of Solomon and Hiram, the scene was entirely 
different. Israel was a Kingdom. God was supremely 


120 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


reverenced by all the people of Israel. Solomon the 
King! was the teacher of Wisdom, and his name had 
been published far and wide among the nations of his 
day. The Kingdom of Phenecia was also a powerful 
Kingdom, and as the city of Tyre was its principal 
seaport, it was very naturally a great commercial Cen¬ 
tre, and, having renewed the friendly relation be¬ 
tween the two great nations, and having established 
the same by a luritten Contract , Solomon decided to 
begin at once upon the long intended Temple of The 
God of Israel. And again we consult the sacred Record 
of the Chronicles, “And the King commanded, and 
they brought great stones, costly stones, and heiued 
stones, to lay the foundation of the house, and Sol¬ 
omon’s builders, and Hiram’s builders, did lieiv them 
and the stonesquarers. So they prepared timber and 
stones to build the house. Hiram said moreover, 
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, that made heaven 
and earth, Who hath given to David the King, a wise 
son, endued with Prudence and Understanding, that 
might build a house for the Lord, and a house for 
his Kingdom. Now therefore! the wheat, and the bar¬ 
ley, the oil, and the ivine,, which my lord hath spoken 
of, let him send unto his servants, and w T e will cut 
wood out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need. And 
we will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa! And 
thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem. And now I have 
sent a cunning Man, endued with understanding, of 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


121 


Hiram my Father’s. The Son of a woman of the 
daughters of Dan, and his father was a Man of Tyre, 
skillful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in 
iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in 
fine linen, and in crimson. Also! to grave any manner 
of graving, and to find out every device which shall be 
put to him with thy cunning men, and with the cun¬ 
ning men of my lord David thy father.” Thus! the 
Master Workman of the temple! Was asked for by Solomon! 
And promised, and sent by Hiram King of Tyre. The 
great undertaking was now fairly begun. All the ma¬ 
terial was prepared and ready for use. All the work¬ 
men were ready for labor, acting under the joint in¬ 
struction of King Solomon and the Master workman, 
and according to the ivisdom of Solomon, the grand 
master builder, the grades of labor had been carefully 
examined, and the artificers had been duly classified 
as Burden Bearers, Heivers'of wood and stone and Over¬ 
seers of the regular Temple Labor. The Cedar trees 
and the Fir trees had all been contracted for, and a 
special agreement had been reached between Solomon 
and Hiram , as to the amount of corn, wine, and oil 
which was to be sent to Hiram, in payment for the 
services of the Sidonian hewers , and the great mass of 
material was now awaiting the appearance of the 
grand Master Mind! who was to erect the great Tem¬ 
ple and carry forward its varied departments of labor 
until the completion of the great building should crown 


122 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


his earnest efforts. This man whom though a work¬ 
man, was the equal of the two great Kings , Solomon of 
Israel, and Hiram of Tyre, was to rear the noblest 
pile of architectural strength and beauty that had ever 
been built by human skill, to grace the earth with its 
presence, and a reference to the 3d chapter of the 2d 
Book of the Chronicles, will show us the location, and 
tinfie, of the beginning of the work. “ Then Solomon 
began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in 
Mount Moriah , where the Lord appeared unto David 
his father, in the place that David had prepared in 
the threshing floor of Oman the Jebusite.” And by 
these plain words of the writer of the Chronicles, 
there is, and can be No Doubt\ as to the real site of the 
Solomonic Temple of the God of Israel, “And he began 
to build in the second day of the second month , in the 
fourth year of his reign. ” The Record, as found in the 
6th Chapter of the First Book of the Kings, is even 
more explicit in its description of the actual time that 
Solomon began to build the beautiful Temple of God 
at Jerusalem. 

“And it came to pass in the four hundred and 
eightieth year after the children of Israel were come 
out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solo¬ 
mon’s reign, in the month Zif, which is the second 
month, that he began to build the house of the Lord.” 
And it is also a wonderful fact that a Mason! can 
always tell the exact time of the beginning of the 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


123 


Order in a practical operative sense by the knowledge 
of the year, the month, and the day, when the Temple 
of God was commenced. Where is there upon the 
earth an Order among men that can in truth cite its 
members to a record of three thousand years of actual 
unbroken existence, and fix the genuine date, when 
the Graft was first set to toork by its first grand officers? 
Masonry not only does this in full and without the 
slightest doubt or hesitation as to the investigation of 
its claims, but it even goes beyond the wildest dreams 
of romance or the credibility of man, and fixes the 
actual date of the laying of the foundation and gives 
the names of the Masons who began work on the 
great Temple a thousand years before the birth of Jesus 
Christ in Bethlehem. And, in the clear light of this 
great fact of Ages! The Master Mason! is a Brother in 
an Order of Men that is as far removed from all so¬ 
cieties as the East is from the West. And in regard 
to its origin and ancient practice, it is as far above all 
other Orders as the heaven is above the earth. There 
is not a Master Mason in all the circuit of the known 
world but whom can tell the inquiring soul that Ma¬ 
sonry first began real labor for the first time upon 
Mount Moriah in the City of Jerusalem in Judea upon 
the second day of the second month —the month Zif—in 
the year 1012 Before Christ! Nor is this all that 
can be attested in the pursuit of the literal facts of 
Bible Masonry! Every Building which had been 


124 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


erected by human hands, previous to the Temple 
Building, owed its existence to the physical need, or 
superstitious fear, of the men who erected it. The 
Men of the River Drift were glad to find a shelter 
from the weather, and shared the rude dwelling with 
the wild animals whose bones are often found con¬ 
tiguous to his own in the clefts of the ancient Rock 
Cliffs that still remain to tell us of a race of human 
beings who lived and died upon the same level as the 
brute beasts that were the sharers of their cave 
dwellings in the banks of the rivers of prehistoric 
Ages! But, as the centuries rolled on and the innate 
“spirit in Man” asserted itself, Man bent the tops of 
trees together toward the earth by the strong hands 
and powerful sinews of crude and savage strength! 
And it was because of the physical needs of man that 
an artificial means of shelter suggested itself and was 
adopted by man on account of its feasibility in allow¬ 
ing him to build a shelter wherever he chose to use 
it, whether of necessity or convenience. And from 
the rude attempts of primeval man to build a house 
by bending the trees to the earth until the day that 
the Masons of King Solomon’s Temple laid the ■first- 
foundation stone , there had been a gradual advance¬ 
ment and improvement in the Art of Architecture— 
which was utilized for twin purposes of Physical 
Shelter, and later in the centuries for Worship of the 
Sun. And as the savage physical nature slowly de- 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


125 


veloped during the earlier existence of the human 
race, so in the process of ages the Mental nature also 
was developed by the very circumstance of ever- 
increasing knowledge, and a widening circle of life. 
And, as a rational result of the dim awakening of the 
mind power within the human animal, there arose a 
desire for light upon the reason of his existence. 
And, as among the celestial bodies above his rude 
dwelling, he perceived the Sun rising in glory, and 
dispelling the shades of night, his simple mind was 
filled with wonder, and the inner nature was stirred 
by a nameless Dread! Man was afraid of the Un¬ 
known! Man learned the use of the element pf fire! 
and kindled a flame upon a great stone! the Rough 
Altar of Nature. Rude carvings of the Sun were 
cut upon the rugged cliffs that faced toward the East! 
Images of the great Reptiles were fashioned from the 
chalk and limestone, and these were afterward copied, 
as man learned the use of metals, in Copper, Bronze, 
Silver, and in Gold! Images! of clay were also 
formed of Bird, Reptile, and Beast. Baked in the 
flames and hardened in appearance, the change was 
indicative to man of a hidden quality of life. And 
thus man invested the image with imaginary at¬ 
tributes, according to the crude ideals of a rough, 
untutored mind. Man bowed before the idols he had 
treated, he built Great Temples! he planted groves 
of trees and set up the shrine of his idol god. A s 


126 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


man advanced in the grades of civilization, his im¬ 
agination and power of thought kept pace with his 
physical progression, and we find man building 
Costly Temples for the repositories of his gods, and 
yet, although the quality of the workmanship was 
such as to command more than a passing glance from 
the mechanic of this present era of learning and 
progress, still the motive for their beautiful idol tem¬ 
ples was the result of a superstitious fear! that seems 
to have held the entire race of human beings within 
its terrible grip. It was because of this existing 
state of affairs that the Temples and the gods within 
were held sacred for a little time—only to be in time 
neglected, and finally deserted, and left, to ruin, as 
the later races, each bringing its quota of the super¬ 
stition of its age—stepped forward in imagination 
and created other gods. The term of their existence 
was necessarily to end with their Creator’s extirpa¬ 
tion or subjugation by still other races, each with 
tfyeir idols and temples, and in accordance with an¬ 
cient custom. A conquered people were generally 
forced to accept and adopt the idols of their con¬ 
querors. This had been the fate of every people 
upon the face of the earth, and the relics that may 
still be found in the now abandoned regions of the 
globe are silent, and yet eloquent witnesses! and 
prove this certain fact! That the death of a Nation 
was the sure harbinger of death for its idol, temple, 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


127 


and household gods—For the Temples of some of 
the later nations of idol worshippers are yet stand¬ 
ing, in a ruined state, and covered with the accumu¬ 
lated debris of centuries of decay! A Ruin, which 
has been accelerated by the convulsions of nature, 
and the changes of climate. But the name, of the 
god in whose honor they were erected is unknown to 
the World, and the men that placed these temples in 
position belonged to a race that has vanished from 
this earth, before even the dawn of historic light. 
By this light! we trace the footprints of Ancient 
peoples. But it fails utterly to illumine the dark 
pages of the life of Prehistoric Man. But there 
was a reason for the ruin of these temples and their 
gods to be found in this fact, namely: that these tem¬ 
ples were erected for the shelter of a god, whose 
only value in the minds of that people was in his 
supposed power to avert disaster, or produce bless¬ 
ing. But the people have “Gone the way of all the 
earth.” Their idols have perished in the common 
ruin, which, unable to avert, they inevitably shared, 
and though we strain the eye of our mentality and 
seek by the refraction of the double-lensed telescope 
of reason and philosophy to pierce the veil of 
gloom and antediluvian darkness, yet never has a 
ray of light been reflected upon the retina of our 
mental vision. They are indeed vanished people, 
vanished gods. “And the places that once knew 


128 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


them shall know them no more forever. 5 ' This has 
been the common fate of every temple, god, and peo¬ 
ple of the idolatry of the past. And, as the Temple 
of the Lord God of Israel was the first Temple ever 
reared in liis name, it is a remarkable truth that the 
very place of its foundation is definitely known, and 
the time of its erection has been safely and accurately 
preserved and Recorded by responsible men, the cen¬ 
tral figures of the heroic ages of the great epochs of 
the national life of famous people. And in addition 
to this the Temple of God was actually built upon 
a plan and specified measurements which originated ivith 
God , and were given by him to King Solomon ivith 
special instructions. “Now t these are the things 
whereof Solomon was instructed for the building of 
the house of the Lord, the length thereof was three¬ 
score cubits, and the breadth thereof, twenty cubits, 
and the height thereof, thirty cubits. 5 ’ (I. Kings, 
6th chapter.) 

The opinions of Masons have varied in regard to the 
dimensions of this first Temple of God, and there is 
but one standard authority on the subject, and that 
is the record of the Bible! and there is also a variance 
in the exact number of inches that were in the Cubit, 
by which the Temple of God was measured.* ‘ -Three 
Cubits were used in the time of the Hebrew monarchy. 
(1.) The Cubit of a man (Deut. 3:11), or the common 


^Smith's Bible Diet., page 990, Art.—Weights and Measures. 



THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


129 


Cubit of Canaan, of the Chaldean standard. (2.) The 
Old Mosaic, or legal Cubit, a hand breadth larger than 
the first (one inch.) (3.) The New Cubit, which was 
still larger, and agreed with the larger Egyptian Cubit 
of about 20-6 inches, used in the Nilometer. The 
ordinary Cubit of the Bible did not come up to the 
full length of the Cubits of other countries.” And 
it is because of this fact of variation in the actual 
inch value of the Hebrew Cubit, and the total de¬ 
struction of the old foundations, that the true meas¬ 
urement of the Temple of God, will never be known 
except by an approximation of the relative values of 
the Cubit of those days, and this, subject to reserva¬ 
tion of positive judgment in the minds of conserva¬ 
tive scholarship. The smallest Cubit measured 15 
inches, the next largest 18 inches, and the generally 
accepted Cubit of the Mosaic and Solomonic period 
would seem to be as near the approximation of literal 
measurement, as the most eminent scholars have been 
able to ascertain—namely: 1 ft. 6 in., or 18 inches to the 
Cubit, and it is not assuming too much when we say 
that this variance can never be accurately adjusted, 
owing to the absence of the original foundations, and 
here the discussion must surely and invariably end, 
for as there cannot be a shadow without a solid body 
from which to emanate, by means of rays of light, 
so, by the same law of logic there can be no literal 
truth in figures that have a movable basic point, and 


9 


130 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


the question of the length of the Solomonic Cubit 
will never be solved correctly as to the number of 
inches in modern measurement which it contained 
simply because we do not know and never can know 
the Cubit measure by which the temple was con¬ 
structed, and this is the opinion of the leading 
scholarship of Bible Weights and Measures. This is 
also a fact in regard to the Temple of Solomon, and 
as we can only judge of its dimensions by approxi¬ 
mate proportionment, it is unwise for us to desire “a 
mental picture of that Temple according to the 
modern measures of the present,” for it cannot be! 
As well request a Geologist to give the color and 
scent of the stone lily of fifty thousand years ago, 
and expect to receive a satisfactory reply, as to esti¬ 
mate by modern rules the measures of such an ancient 
building whenever the foundations have utterly dis¬ 
appeared forever. But there is one curious and very 
impressive coincidence in regard to the proportion 
which existed between the measurements of The 
Temple of God in Jerusalem and The Tabernacle of 
the Ark of God in the Wilderness! and the fact is 
simply this: That every Cubit measurement of the 
Ark of the Covenant and The Tabernacle of The Ark 
was exactly one-half of the measurement of the 
Temple Building , or in other words the Temple in 
its measurements was exactly double all the Ark and 
Tabernacle measures. The inner repository of the 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


131 


tabernacle in the wilderness was built for the reception 
the Ark of the Covenant , and was within the space of a 
perfect Cube of 10 cubits in length, breadth, and 
height, and the inner Holy of Holies in the Temple of 
God was also a perfect Cube of 20 cubits in length, 
breadth, and height. The length of the Tabernacle 
was 30 cubits, while the length of the Temple was 
60 cubits. The breadth of the Tabernacle was 10 
cubits, and the breadth of the Temple was 20 cubits. 
The height of the Tabernacle was 15 cubits, and the 
height of the Temple was 30 cubits, and we are also 
informed that there was a porch in front of the build 
ing that was 120 cubits in height and 20cubits in length in 
accordance with the breadth or width of the main 
building, and this porch was also 10 cubits broad be¬ 
fore the Temple, and thus we are enabled from these 
direct figures to form a correct ideal of the Temple 
in regard to its perfect cubic proportions in accord with 
the plain record of the Bible and the rules of cubic- 
measurement. The Holy Place was a perfect Square 
of 20 cubits every way, and it was situated in the 
Eastern end of the great Temple building. The dis¬ 
tance from the Holy Place to the Temple porch was 
40 cubits toward the West, and as the breadth of the 
Temple was 20 cubits, it is easy for us to see the per¬ 
fect proportion of the great Oblong Square of 60 by 20 
cubits in length and breadth with a perfect Square or 
Cube of 20 cubits cut off for the Holy Place at the East - 


132 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


ern extremity, and in the conservative measurement of 
the accepted cubit of 18 inches to the cubit it is a cer¬ 
tainty that the length of the Temple from East to 
West was not less than 60 cubits or 90 feet, and that 
the breadth was fully 20 cubits, or 30 feet, and that 
the height of the walls and ceiling was 30 cubits, or 
f5 feet These figures have at least the merit of a 
true and conservative estimate according to the 
accepted length of the cubit of Solomonic times, and it 
is certain that the Temple was of these dimensions, al¬ 
though by the employment of the other Cubits its 
figures in modern measurement would, of course, be 
much larger. 

But the figures thus adduced are governed by the 
average cubit, or from the smallest cubit of 15 inches 
to the largest cubit of 22 inches, which is the min¬ 
imum average of 18 inches to the cubit, and this is the 
only reliable base of measurement by which we have 
any right to estimate the cubit measure of the Tem¬ 
ple of The God of Israel. And, as we notice the won¬ 
derful dual similarity, in the appearance and measure¬ 
ments of the Tabernacle and the Temple, and of the per¬ 
fect symmetry of the entire plan, in the complete re¬ 
production of the actual figures and specifications of 
God, as He delivered them to Moses, The human Mind is 
overwhelmed at the accuracy and might of Divine 
Power! and Infinite Knowledge, delegated by God to 
Moses and Solomon, Which must forever stamp The Tern- 



THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


133 


pie of God as The Wonder of all the wonders of this 
wonderful world. And, in the building of the Tem¬ 
ple, there was a principle followed that was unique 
in its design, and is a solitary instance, amid centu¬ 
ries of architectural skill, of a Building actually 
erected of Stones , that were fitted for their places in 
the Temple before they left the quarries where they 
were found. “And the house, when it was in build¬ 
ing, was built of Stone made ready before it was brought 
thither, so that there was neither hammer, nor ax, nor 
any tool of iron, heard in the house while it was in 
building ” (I. Kings, 6th Chapter). 

And it was by the special direction of God that this 
principle was adopted and strictly followed by the 
Temple workmen, “And there shalt thou build an altar 
unto the Lord thy God, An Altar of Stones! Thou 
shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them (Deut. 27). 
Every stone in that Temple was to be quarried , 
Hewed , Saived, fitted and polished before it could enter 
that perfect building, because as God had forbidden 
the use of any tool of iron upon the altar that Joshua 
was commanded to build in memory of the passage 
through the Jordan into the land of Canaan. So the 
same power had now forbidden the use of iron in the 
construction of His Temple. And it was to teach the 
people this lesson, That, as the actual rock material 
for the Temple was to be quarried out from the ledge 
in which it had been placed through the forces of na- 


134 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


ture, so the Lord had lifted out His chosen people 
from the land of Egypt, with a mighty hand and an 
outstretched arm. And, as the rough specimens of 
the quarry were sawed , and hewed , and squared , and 
polished for their fitted places in the great Temple in 
Jerusalem, so the Lord had prepared His people 
through the qualifying experiences of the wilderness 
journey, in their literal dependency upon God for 
strength and establishment in the land of Promise, 
w T hich, by a faithful following of His orders, they 
hoped to reach in due time. And in the beginning 
of the Temple work it will be noticed that a promise 
had been made to King Solomon of a cunning work¬ 
man of Tyre , and “King Solomon sent and fetched 
Hiram out of Tyre; he was a ividoiv’s son, of the tribe 
of Napthali, and his father was a man a man of Tyre, 
a worker in Brass, and he was filled with ivisdom and 
understanding and cunning to work all things in 
brass, and he came to King Solomon and wrought all 
his work” (I. Kings, 7). Hiram also was ready to 
begin the great work of the Temple, and he exam¬ 
ined and chose' a place in the Jordan Valley in which 
to begin the casting of the instruments of Brass. The 
Bible tells us that Hiram chose “the clay ground in the 
plain of Jordan , between Succoth and Zartlian! And 
then the real work of the Temple began in earnest. 
There were two Pillars of Brass needed for the Porch 
of the Temple, because the Bible also tells us that 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


135 


"‘He cast two pillars of brass of 18 cubits high 
apiece, and he made two Chapiters of molten brass 
to set upon the tops of the pillars; the height of One 
Chapiter was 5 cubits, and the height of the Other 
Chapiter was 5 cubits, and the Chapiters that were 
upon the top of the pillars were of Lily Work in the 
Porch, 4 cubits” (I. Kings, 7). These figures amount 
in the aggregate to 27 Cubits, and we are further 
told of a line of 12 cubits that compassed them about, 
and we may therefore be certain from the special 
detailed account in the Book of The Kings that 
the plain pillar was cast of a length of 18 cubits, 
and * Josephus also agrees with the Bible exactly 
in his description of these ancient pillars of The 
Porch of The Temple, and says, “The height of the 
pillars was 18 cubits, and their circumference 12 
cubits. But there was cast with each of their Chapi¬ 
ters Lily Work that stood upon the pillar, and it was 
elevated five cubits, round about which there was 
network, interwoven with small Palms, made of brass 
and covered the lily work; to this also were hung two 
hundred pomegranates in two rows.” Thus we find 
that the actual pillar was cast 18 cubits in length, and 
that the chapiter above the top of the pillar was com¬ 
posed of lily work and network that occupied the ad¬ 
ditional space of 5 cubits. The Bible also says, 
“The Chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars 


*Antiquities, Book VIII., Chap. Ill, Flavius Josephus. 



136 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


were of lily work in the porch, 4 cubits.” This descrip¬ 
tion is complete, and therefore the actual height of 
the pillars from the floor of the porch to the top must 
be as follows: Pillar 18 cubits, lily and network 5 
cubits, and Chapiter upon the top 4 cubits, amounting 
in all to 27 cubits, which gives us two pillars of brass 
with entablature of lily work and surmounted with 
chapiters or capitals , making two pillars of 27 cubits! 
or (according to Solomonic cubit of 18 inches) J^O ft. 
6 in. in height , and by allowing 3 cubits for the Base 
and Plinth we have two pillars of brass of 30 cubits 
in height from the floor to the top of the chapiter 1 
30 cubits, or Jf5 feet , which it will be well remembered 
was the height of the walls of the Temple, and to still 
further examine the proof of this measurement we 
have but to read the later writings of Jeremiah, the 
prophet of God, who, in speaking of these same two 
pillars of brass in the year 588 B. C., or 417 years 
after the pillars were cast. At the time of their re¬ 
moval by Nebuzar-Adan from Jerusalem to Babylon. 
“And, concerning the pillars: The height of one pil¬ 
lar was 18 cubits, and a fillet of 12 cubits did com¬ 
pass it, and the thickness thereof was 4 fingers; it 
was holloiv, and a chapiter of brass was upon it. And 
the height of one chapiter was 5 cubits, with network 
and pomegranates upon the chapiters round about, 
all of brass. The second pillar also, and the pome¬ 
granates were like unto these.” (Jer., 52nd chapter.) 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


13T 


This statement of Jeremiah is plain and concise, 
and agrees in every respect to the record of the Kings. 
It was written 400 years after the pillars had been set 
up in the Porch of the Temple; and still there is an 
account in the Second Book of the Chronicles of the 
casting of two pillars 35 cubits in height, which were 
surmounted by Chapiters of 5 cubits in height, which 
would make a total measurement of 40 cubits in 
height, and this statement has led to endless argu¬ 
ment as to which of these statements is absolutely 
correct, and to this seemingly unexplainable problem 
we will answer that the difference in these statements 
is easily explained by this simple fact: That, as the 
Hebrew people had never progressed in the Arts and 
Sciences because of the fact that they were compelled 
by circumstances to be a nation of warriors, they 
were obliged to erect the Temple, and as they had 
no special skill in architecture , they were obliged to 
be governed by the plans of the master mason of Tyre , 
who had been sent by special request of the Hebrew 
King from Hiram , King of Tyre. And this Tyrian 
brass-w T orker had made the porch and the pillars ac¬ 
cording to his own design , for there was nothing said 
about two pillars of brass in God's instructions to 
Solomon, and as the Phenicians were the leaders in 
the Arts, and had learned and practically absorbed 
the best ideals of cultured nations who were their 
contemporaries. They had proved their ability to 


V 


138 THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 

execute practical and ornamental architecture, and a 
knowledge of the skill required in the trades of Ma¬ 
sonry that had come to the ear of King Solomon! 
And Solomon proved his faith in the quality of their 
achievements in this line by mentioning in his letter 
to King Hiram this complimentary tribute to the 
merit of the workmen of King Hiram of Tyre: “None 
can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians The 
■strength of the plain Doric Order, in architecture, was 
welded to the beauty of the Composite Order, and the 
beautiful and massive buildings of Phenicia were 
substantial proofs of the knowledge and skill of the 
Masoyis of the City of Tyre. And, from the unusual 
height of the Temple Porch and its splendid ornamen¬ 
tation, “Overlaid with Gold,” it is a certainty! that 
the Order of Architecture employed upon the great 
Porch, and mighty Pillars , would necessarily be of 
the Phenician composite variety, simply because of this 
fact: The Master Mason in charge of the work was a 
man of Tyre , and, as he had no special orders in re¬ 
gard to the porch or pillars, he would naturally build 
them in Phenician fashion, and for the same reason 
the cubit measurement would also be of the larger 
Egyptian standard of measurement, and besides this, 
they were cast 18 cubits in length, which was a com¬ 
plete and startling departure from the factors of the 
number Ten, which up to this time had been the rul¬ 
ing figure both of the Ark, the Tabernacle, and the 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


139 


‘Temple buildings, and by a consideration of the num¬ 
ber of cubits of the 15-inch variety, of the later times 
•of the writing of the Chronicles of the Kings, would 
surely be greater in the descriptive measurements of 
the pillars erected by a foreign standard cubit than 
the number of standard cubits by which the pillars 
had been originally cast. 

For, if the pillars were cast 18 cubits in length by 
the Mosaic or Egyptian standards of 19, 21, or 22 inches 
to a cubit, it will readily be seen that a greater num¬ 
ber of 15 inch cubits would be required in describing 
the same measures, as to the definite altitude of these 
pillars of the Temple Porch. And as Hiram was a 
man of Tyre, in full charge, and with Phenician and 
Egyptian cubit measure as his natural and reliable 
standard, and designing the porch and pillars accord¬ 
ing to his oivn mind, It is more than probable that they 
were cast by the ancient Cubit of 22 inches, the cubit 
of Egypt, and were measured in later times by the 
smaller Jeiuish cubit of 15 inches. Because the 
Recorders were obliged to use the cubit of their day 
in describing the pillars. And, while the actual 
height of the pillars was a certainty of 30 Cubits, ac¬ 
cording to the Bible, yet the ratio of the differential 
cubit measures would naturally produce a seeming 
contradiction, and form a real discrepancy, when in 
reality there is not the slightest difference in either 
account when we consider the standpoint of the shift- 


140 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


ing values of the three prominent Cubits of ancient 
measurements in the early days of the Temple Build¬ 
ers. And upon this explanation, which is supported 
by the descriptive plan of the Book of the Kings, and 
Reiterated by Jeremiah the prophet of God 400 
years afterward, The Mason! of the Past! the Present! 
and the Future! may safely rest assured; for, as the 
outward life of King Solomon was tinged with the 
dark stain of the idolatry of his Egyptian wife, yet 
his heart was ever faithful to the Lord God of Israel. 
And in the same manner, while it is true that the ex¬ 
ternals of the pillars and porch of the Temple were all 
built and ornamented by an artist Mason, who was of 
a foreign birth and blood, yet the House of God was 
built by Solomon the Son of David , Who personally 
constructed the Holy of Holies! and enclosed it for 20 
cubits on every side with boards of the precious Cedar r 
brought from Lebanon. “So Solomon built the house, 
and finished it, and he built the walls of the house 
within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the 
house and the walls of the ceiling, and he covered 
them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor 
of the house with planks of fir. And he built 20 cubits 
on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls r 
with boards of cedar. He even built them for it 
within, even for the Oracle, even for the most Holy 
Place. And the house, that is, the temple before it, 
was 40 cubits long.” (I. Kings, 6th chap.) 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


141 


And by this description we may see that the Secret 
Temple of the God of Israel, was built simply and 
perfectly by the very man whom God instructed to 
Build His Temple. Being built of Cedar , it was a 
valuable building, even in the nature of intrinsic 
worth. Because the cedar timber had been cut and 
hewed in the forests of Lebanon. It had been brought 
from Lebanon to the seaport of Tyre , and had been 
transported to Joppa across the sea in floats, which 
w r as an ancient custom in shipping timber and stone 
from one place to another on the sea coast of the Med¬ 
iterranean. And, having been thus conveyed from 
Lebanon to Joppa it had been carried through the 
rough and broken country of Judea to the City of Je¬ 
rusalem , and was used to ceil and wall the house of 
God. Truly it was valuable, even for the Cedar that 
adorned its great walls and ceiling. But we also read 
that “He overlaid it with gold,” and that the doors 
and hinges were of gold. And it was the evident in¬ 
tent of the Lord to show, by the perfect measure¬ 
ment, superior quality of material, and splendid or¬ 
namentation, the Riches! Perfection! and Glory! of the 
Lord God of Israel. 

But again we return to the great Porch, and in¬ 
spect the fine workmanship of the Tyrian Mason! 
There was a deep meaning in the lily work around 
the chapiters of the two great pillars, for the lily has 
over been an emblem of Purity among every civilized 


142 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


people. The beautiful buildings of Egypt were orna¬ 
mented by capitals, frieze, and cornice of fretted and 
lily work, and the theory already hinted, of the intro¬ 
duction of Egyptian architecture into the beautiful 
Porch of the Temple by the Phenician Mason! is still 
further advanced, and more fully developed, by this 
lovely emblem of purity, the lily of Egypt! the Beauty 
of the sacred Nile, as it appears upon the chapiter of 
these wonderful temple Pillars, because this beautiful 
design of lily work was universally adopted by the 
ancients, on account of the graceful lines of its natu¬ 
ral beauty and delicacy of form, and also because of 
the suggestive thought of Purity , which has ever been 
symbolized by that sweet flower. And in all civilized 
ages the white lily has been emblematical of the 
strength of purity of life, as its delicate yet powerful 
perfume is a sweet and lasting joy. For these reasons 
the cunning mason of Tyre caused the lily work of 
purity to be protected by the interwreathed chain work 
of real strength! which was to declare in powerful 
symbolic language from the summit of each magnifi¬ 
cent pillar! The Strength , Beauty , and Purity of the 
wonderful building which they adorned, and of the 
sublime Creator in whose name the great Temple had 
been erected; and thus, though emblems from a for¬ 
eign land, the Lily w T ork and the Chain work were 
eloquent in their beautiful testimony of the purity of 
the great God of Israel and the strength of His King- 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


143 


dom. As the traveler entered that western porch, 
and looked with wondering and bewildered vision 
upon the vast proportions and surpassing loveliness 
of the great Pillars, and the temple Porch, as he 
faced the East! with its Sanctuary of the most high 
God, the mind was impressed with the solemn and 
sacred beauty of the ravishing magnificence of the en¬ 
trance portal, and the Spirit was hushed and silent in 
the Presence of the God of Israel. And the devout 
worshipper of the True God was constantly and for¬ 
cibly reminded of the righteous injunction, “Keep 
thyself Pure,” and also of the assurance of the help of 
God in every time of need , for the chain work was also 
suggestive of the promise of God to Joshua, “Be 
Strong! and of good courage, and as I was with 
Moses so I will be with thee.” 

Again we read that the capitals were covered with 
a Network of checker work, and that this adornment 
was still further beautified by a double row of Pome¬ 
granates! And these emblems were also significant, 
both in their Egyptian origin and their true symbolic 
meaning to the Temple worshippers. The network 
of checker work was emblematic of close unity! and 
expressed the ideal of true hearted believers in one 
God—a mutual bond of common love for God and 
each other. ‘ ‘Whatsoever things ye would that men 
do unto you, do ye even so to them.” Thus, 
the Netted checker work taught that people Unity of 


144 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Reverence for God, amid the changing scenes of 
earthly life and the checkered pathway of human 
hope. 

The Pomegranate! had been from time that was 
immemorial the Egyptian Symbol of Plenty. And thus 
the entire design of the Lily work, Chain work, Net 
work, and Pomegranates was most beautifully delin¬ 
eated as a blessing and guide to the people. That as 
the lily work of purity was protected by the chain 
work of strength, and covered with the network of 
Unity, were linked to the pomegranates of plenty, so 
they signified to all that a nation of pure-hearted 
people, worshipping the True God in that Temple, 
practicing Purity of life, bound in a mutual Network 
of love and service of God, Strong in the power of the 
God of Israel , would live and prosper in a land of 
plenty, while they continued to serve Him. And God 
had promised them just such a future, dependent 
only upon the obedience of the people to His divine 
law, for the commandments of God icere the basic princi¬ 
ples of their national existence. 

This! was the meaning of these pillars of brass in 
the Temple Porch. We are also told that “He reared 
up the pillars before the Temple, and he set up the 
pillars in the Porch of the Temple—one on the right 
hand, and the other on the left.” And we also find 
that, according to another foreign custom, he named 
the pillars in such a manner as to suggest the idea of 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


145 


a powerful rulership for a long time to come. And 
another fact in regard to the two pillars of brass is 
this: They were placed in such a position as to com¬ 
pel every man that entered the Temple by the western 
gate of the Porch to enter into the building upon the 
ground floor, and to pass between the pillars, in order 
to gain access to the interior chambers of the house 
of God. And as long as the mind and memory of the 
human race shall preserve and cherish the ideal of 
worship of God, which was embodied in the great 
Temple for the instruction of the intellect, the pol¬ 
ishing of finely tempered natures, the love of truth¬ 
fulness and fair dealing, the repression of vice, and all 
improper desires of the mind and body, so long w T ill 
they remember the lesson that was taught the people 
of God from that Book of Brass, whose pages were 
lettered with 4 cubits of lily work. And as the stu¬ 
dent of History, aud the lover of Masonry, pass be¬ 
tween the pillars and enter the inner building of God, 
gleaming with the stones and rare gejns which had 
found their way from the distant mines to their 
places in the golden walls, and redolent with 
the breath of the Lebanon Cedars, Looking toward 
the East! where the Altar of Gold flashed out the 
reflection of the softened light from the beauti¬ 
ful golden Lamps that illumined the holy courts 
of God with calm and radiant brilliancy. And, 
as he realizes the full meaning of the sacred, solemn 


146 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


scene, the senses are enthralled in a holy meditative 
silence as he approaches the altar to offer up his 
fervent adoration of Deity. He bows the knee and 
bends the form, while his heart draws nigh to the God 
of Israel. The Great Temple was finished! for 
again the sacred record speaks to the attentive 
ear” In the fourth year was the foundation of the 
house of the Lord laid in the month Zif. And in the 
eleventh year, in the month Bui, which is the eighth 
month, was the house finished throughout all the 
parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it— 
so was he seven years in building it. (I. Kings, 6.) 
Solomon had succeeded in the great undertaking of 
building the Temple of God, and now that the work 
had been completed, and the Temple was ready for 
the service of God to be instituted in it, then appeared 
a fact worthy of attention that Solomon had actually 
built the Temple within the sacred circle of the Divine 
number Seven. Seven days were designed by the 
All-wise Creator for the full completion of Labor 
and its counterpart of Rest. And following in the 
same pathway of providential timing of labor and 
rest, Seven years of unremitting toil and spendid suc¬ 
cess were the boundary lines of the time allotted by 
the God of Israel for the completion of the Temple 
which had been built by His Plan. 

God had chosen Solomon to Build His Temple, and, 
in obedience to the divine will, Solomon had willingly 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


147 


consented , and had been encouraged by King Hiram of 
Tyre, the friend of David his Father. And we have 
seen that Hiram proved his love by helping Solomon. 
We have also seen the cedars of Lebanon that Hiram 
sent from Tyre to Jerusalem by way of Joppa! We 
have possibly touched the great and costly hewed 
marble stones, and the stones of “ The Old Founda¬ 
tions' —stones that were prepared , made ready, before 
they were carried from the natural quarry to the sa¬ 
cred precincts of the Temple of God. We have en - v 
tered the ranks of the Burden Bearers of the Temple, 
and have perhaps also passed from the ground floor to 
the inner Temple. We may have stood ivitldn the 
ceiled chambers, in the presence of the Master Work¬ 
man, and listened to the words of loisdom, as he taught 
us from the sacred Record Book of the God of Israel,. 
Words of instruction, reprimand, warning, sentence,, 
or commendation, and have been exhorted to devo¬ 
tional faith in an hour of peril; thus We too have re¬ 
alized that the Temple of God is Finished. And as 
Solomon, in the presence of the thousands of Israel,, 
called upon all present to bow the knee before the God 
of Israel, in the Temple erected unto Him, so the Ma¬ 
son! will reverence the name of the great Creator and 
bow in adoration of Deity at the Masonic Altar of eter¬ 
nal friendship , morality , and brotherly love , and while 
remembering his brethren of the ancient Craft in the 
ties of Masonry, he will in heart dedicate himself to the 


148 THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 

service of The Divine Master and serve him as a Ma¬ 
son in the Temples of to-day. 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


149 


CHAPTER IV. 

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE. 

After the Temple had been completed, it was the 
wish of King Solomon to Dedicate it unto God, in 
whose name it had been erected, and by whose spe¬ 
cial direction the work been brought to a final and 
successful termination. And there was but one way 
of procedure in the manner of its dedication, and that 
was to perform all the ceremonial in the presence of 
The Ark of The Covenant, and, in order to do this, it 
was necessary for King Solomon to have the Ark 
transported from the place where it had rested since 
the time of its journey from Kirjath-Jearim to Judea. 
And it is necessary that the exact place of its pres¬ 
ence be knoivn to all who are interested in Masonic 
History! And, by referring to the Record Book of 
Samuel the Prophet (2nd Sam., 5th chap.) we read 
that ‘ ‘ David took the stronghold of Zion, the same is the 
City of David; so David dwelt in the Fort and called it 
the City of David.” The entire city of Jerusalem was 
the nominal possession of the King, yet the place 
where he had first intrenched himself upon entering 
into the country was peculiarly adapted for the power¬ 
ful name of the Fortress of Zion! The original City 
of David was built upon the Southwestern side of the 


150 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Castle of Zion, and we also read that David built 
round about from Millo! Millo was a knoll that rose 
from the plain on the Northern outskirts of Jerusa¬ 
lem, and the Temple was built upon Mount Moriah, 
which was the actual site of the original City of David. 
And again we read (2nd Chron., 3d Chap.) “Solomon 
began to build the House of the Lord at Jerusalem in 
Mount Moriah ,” and in consequence of this fact , which 
is so plainly asserted in the Bible , we should also find 
a statement of the location of the Ark at the termina¬ 
tion of its strange journey from Ashdod to Jerusalem. 

And this statement is very clearly given in II. 
Sam., 6th chapter, “So David went and brought up 
the Ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into 
the City of David with gladness. And they brought 
in the Ark of the Lord, and set it in his place in the 
midst of the Tabernacle that David had pitched for 
it.” And this record of Samuel is again fully sup¬ 
ported by this fact, that when the Temple was 
finished, “Then Solomon assembled the Elders of 
Israel, and all the Heads of the tribes, the Chief of the 
Fathers of the children of Israel, unto King Solomon 
in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the Ark of the 
Covenant of the Lord, Out of the City of David , ivhich 
is in Zion.” We must notice also that as the people 
in the wilderness were forbidden to proceed until the 
Ark was released from the Cloud that rested upon it, 
so King Solomon desired that the Ark should first be 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


151 


placed within the proper place in the great Temple 
before proceeding with the dedicatory ceremonial, and 
we find that “All the men of Israel assembled them¬ 
selves unto King Solomon in the month Ethanim, 
which is the seventh month, and the Priests took up 
the Ark, and brought up the Ark of the Lord and the 
Tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy 
vessels that were in the Tabernacle, even those did 
the Priests and the Levites bring up, and King Solo¬ 
mon and all the congregation of Israel that were as¬ 
sembled unto him were with him before the Ark, 
sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be told nor 
numbered for multitude, and the Priests brought in 
the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord unto his place, 
into the Oracle of the house, to the most holy place , 
even under the wings of the Cherubims, for the Cheru¬ 
binis spread forth their two icings over the place of 
the Ark, and the Cherubims covered the Ark and the 
staves thereof above, and they drew out the staves, 
that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy 
place before the Oracle, and they were not seen with¬ 
out, and there they are unto this day.” This account 
was ivritten during the second half of the Babylonian 
captivity of the children of Israel, and it tells us 
plainly of the manner in which Solomon began 
the service of the Lord in the Temple which he 
had built in His name, and the most important portion 
of the narrative to a Masonic reader is, that a definite 


152 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


and final location had been found for the Ark of the 
Covenant, and that from that time until the consum¬ 
mation of its service in the ruins of the Temple and 
the City, the Ark was to remain beneath the out¬ 
spread wings of the protecting Cherubims which 
illustrated th q force of the words of David the former 
King. “He shall cover thee with His Feathers, and 
under His icings shalt thou trust.” (Psalm 91:1.) 
After the Ark had been placed in its proper situation, 
and the people were all preparing for the dedication 
of the Temple, a most startling discovery was made. 

‘ ‘There was nothing in the Ark save the two tables of 
stone which Moses put there at Horeb when the Lord 
made a covenant with the children of Israel w T hen they 
came out of the land of Egypt.” (-1. Kings, 8.) We 
must now retrace our steps into the History of Israel 
for 347 years, from the year 1004 B. C., to the year 
1451, B. C., and at that time while in the wilderness 
journey they had come to the Mountain of Horeb, 
where Moses had written the Book of the Law. 

‘ ‘ And Moses icrote this Law , and delivered it unto 
the Priests , the sons of Levi, which bare the Ark of 
the Covenant of the Lord, and unto all the Elders of 
Israel, saying, when All Israel is come to appear be¬ 
fore the Lord thy God, in the place which He shall 
choose, Thou shalt read this laic before all Israel in 
their hearing; Gather the people together—Men, 
Women, and Children—and thy stranger that is with- 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


153- 


in thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may 
learn and fear the Lord your God and observe to do 
all the words of this laiv, and that their children, which 
have not known anything, may hear and learn to fear 
the Lord your God as long as ye live in the land, 
whether ye go over Jordan to possess it. And it came 
to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the 
words of this law in a Book until they were finished, 
That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the 
Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, saying, Take this 
Book of the Law and put it in the side of the Ark of the 
Covenant of the Lord your God , that it may be there 
for a witness against thee.” (Deut. 31st Chap.) Solo¬ 
mon fully realized the meaning of all this work, and 
understood more clearly than all the others the Power 
that for 347 years had still kept the ancient law, for, 
although men had looked into the Ark, they had paid 
the penalty of their curiosity; and although the Phil¬ 
istines had captured the Ark for a season, yet it had 
safely carried the law of the God of Israel. Even 
when placed upon a cart, drawn by two milch kine, the 
animals had traveled the highway until they came to 
the wheat fields of Beth-shemesh. The house of Obed- 
edom had been blessed by its stay of three months, 
and the Kingdom of Israel had been greatly prospered 
and blessed by its presence in the temporary Taber¬ 
nacle which David had caused to be made and pitched 
in Mount Zion. And now, having been gifted by the 


154 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Lord, as never man had been gifted before in the his¬ 
tory of the race, it only remained for Solomon to ob¬ 
serve and rigidly enforce the Law of God. And, as 
the Ark was in the Holy Place, and the sacred law 
had been found within it, where Moses had caused it 
to be placed, in the wilderness journey, And finally! 
as all had been done that could be done before the 
Dedication Service, “ Solomon stood before the Altar of 
the Lord, in the presence of all the congregation of 
Israel, and spread forth his hands toward Heaven. 
And it came to pass when the Priests were come out 
of the Holy Place that the Cloud filled the house of 
the Lord.” This was the ancient Symbol of God’s sure 
protection and Leadership. This same Cloud had cov¬ 
ered the Tabernacle , and day by day had led the way 
through the wilderness. This same Cloud had covered 
Moses in the mountain of Sinai while receiving the 
law of God from the hand of Jehovah amid the convul¬ 
sions of Nature and the distrustfulness of the people. 
This cloud was the symbol of the Presence of the Lord 
in His Temple; and the magnificent building with its 
wealth of beauty in material, design, and workman¬ 
ship, would have been but a monumental example of 
misplaced faith on the part of its builders, if God 
had not honored their obedience to His plans by the 
Cloud of the Presence of the God of Israel. 

But while Solomon the wise King stood before the 
Altar of Gold, with his hands spread toward heaven, 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


155 


Behold! “the cloud filled the house of the Lord, and 
dhe Priests could not stand to minister because of the 
cloud, for the Glory of the Lord had filled the house 
of the Lord. Then spake Solomon! The Lord said 
that He would dwell in the thick darkness . I have 
surely built thee a house to dwell in—a settled place 
for thee to abide in forever." What a wonderful mo¬ 
ment! The melodious voice of the mighty King Solo¬ 
mon fell upon the still air, and, as the hushed assem¬ 
blage stood quietly , ivitli bowed heads , The King turned 
his face about and blessed all the congregation of 
Israel. “And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of 
Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my 
father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying, 
Whereas! it was in thine heart to build a house unto 
my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart. 
Nevertheless, Thou shalt not build the house, but thy 
/Son, that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall 
build the house unto my name. And The Lord hath 
performed His word that He spake, and I am risen up 
in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne 
of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built a 
house for the name of the Lord God of Israel, and I 
have set there a place for the Ark, wherein is the cov¬ 
enant of the Lord, which He made with our fathers 
when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. 
Therefore Now, Lord God of Israel, Keep with thy 
servant David my father. That Thou promised him! 


156 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to 
sit on the throne of Israel, so that thy children take 
heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou 
hast walked before me.” Solomon believed in the 
promise of God, and fully expected that God would 
keep His word, because he knew the God of Israel 
could not lie, and his faith was firm, for his succeed¬ 
ing words are the vehicles of Prayer, and the true 
simplicity of the great King was never more fully 
shown, nor his childlike faith in God more sweetly ex¬ 
pressed than in the opening words of the most won¬ 
derful prayer that was ever formed in a human soul, 
with always the One Exception! CHRIST the divine 
man, “And now, O God of Israel! let thy word I pray 
thee be verified, and hearken thou to fhe supplication 
of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they 
shall pray toward this place, and hear thou in Heaven , 
thy dwelling place, and when thou hearest, forgive” 
(I. Kings, 8). The great King committed himself his 
people , the Ark , and the Temple into the hands of God 
while kneeling before the Altar of the Temple. “And it 
was so that when Solomon had made an end of pray¬ 
ing all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he 
arose from the Altar of the Lord, from kneeling on 
his Knees with his hands spread up to Heaven” 
(I. Kings, 8). And it should cause Masonic minds to 
notice with care the humble and imploring attitude of 
the wise King , in the presence of the Altar of the 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


157 


Lord, and it should ever encourage all masons to 
firmly trust in the great Creator when we read this 
additional record in the Book of the Kings, “And He 
stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with 
a loud voice, saying, Blessed be the Lord that hath 
given rest unto his people Israel. According to all 
that he promised there hath not failed one wprd of all 
His good promise, which he promised by the hand of 
Moses his servant, let your heart therefore be perfect 
with the Lord our God, to tvalk in His statutes and to 
Keep His Commandments as at this day.” 

Israel was a favored people, favored by the Lord 
with a beautiful country, in which to reside, with a 
wise King , gifted by the Lord with exceeding wisdom , 
with a Kingdom of wealth, and a perfect Temple of 
Worship designed by God, they were certainly in a 
happy condition, and Solomon, with a wise heart, 
counselled them to obedience in all the command¬ 
ments of Israel’s God, and warning them of the dire 
penalties of a failure to do this by reminding them of 
the justice of God, who would certainly allow their 
enemies to despoil them and utterly destroy the Tem¬ 
ple and the city , and again we read that Solomon 
offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, w T hich he offered 
unto the Lord, That 22,000 Oxen and 120,000 sheep 
were sacrificed, and “So the King and all the chil¬ 
dren of Israel dedicated the House of the Lord.” A 
great feast was then inaugurated that continued for 


158 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


14 days, and at the close of the feast the people were 
dismissed from the Temple Court, and a great joy 
and content was in the hearts of the people and their 
King. We next find that the Ninth Chapter is the 
record of an interview of King Solomon with the 
Lord, in which the Lord told him in expressed terms 
of the future condition of his Kingdom. “And the 
Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy 
supplication that thou hast made before me. I have 
hallowed this house which thou hast built to put my 
name there forever , and mine eyes and mine heart shall 
be there perpetually, and if thou wilt walk before me 
as David thy father walked in integrity of heart and 
in uprightness to do according to all that I have com¬ 
manded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judg¬ 
ments, Then I will establish the throne of thy King¬ 
dom upon Israel forever, as I promised to David thy 
father. But if ye shall at all turn from following me, 
ye or your children, and will not keep my command¬ 
ments and my statutes, which I have set before you, 
but go and serve other gods, and worship them, then 
will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have 
given them, and this house which I have hallowed for 
my name will I cast out of my sight, and Israel shall 
be a proverb and a byword among all people.” By 
these words of warning, we find that the Lord ex¬ 
pected the Kingdom of Israel to remain loyal to Him, 
and that he pronounced a certain punishment upon 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


159 


their neglect of His Orders or a refusal to yield 
Obedience to Him implicitly, and the succeeding His¬ 
tory of Israel and the Temple is mournful evidence of 
the failure even of Solomon to continue faithfully in 
the service of God, for the record tells the careful 
reader, “That Solomon did evil in the sight of the 
Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, and the 
Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was 
turned from the Lord God of Israel. Wherefore the 
Lord said unto Solomon, for as much as this is done 
of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my 
statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely 
rend the Kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy 
servant. Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do 
it, But I will rend it out of the hand of thy son,” and 
the Lord kept His promise in this case, as he did 
in all things, “And Solomon slept with his fathers, 
and was buried in the City of David his father, and 
Rehoboam his son, reigned in his stead.” The Lord 
had also said to Ahijah that one tribe should remain 
loyal to Rehoboam his son, and it was because of a 
certain purposp, “And unto his son will I give one 
tribe , That David my servant may have a light always 
before me in Jerusalem ,” and the events which fol¬ 
lowed the death of Solomon, and the accession of 
Rehoboam to the throne, proved the truth of the por¬ 
tending disruption of the Kingdom. The petition of 
Jeroboam to be forgiven was unheeded, and the coun- 


160 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


sel of the Old Men of Solomon’s Reign was forsaken 
by Rehoboam, and the result was precisely as the 
Lord had said by the lips of Ahijah, “There was 
none that followed the House of David but the tribe 
of Judali only.” This was the beginning of the End. 
Ten Tribes of Israel revolted and enlisted under the 
standard of Jeroboam and One Tribe , The Tribe of 
Judah, remained firm in loyalty to King Rehoboam 
the son of Solomon, the son of David, of the Tribe of 
Judah. The Tribe of Judali had been specially 
blessed by the Patriarch! Israel, upon his deathbed, 
had uttered these prophetic words: “The Sceptre shall 
not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between 
his feet until Shiloh come .” (Genesis, 49th Chap.) 
This was the Tribal Light which God had said should 
remain in Jerusalem, and it was because of this fact, 
That while Ten Tribes were disaffected and turned 
away in mutinous revolution, and gave their al¬ 
legiance to Jeroboam and the worship of Idols. 
Judah, The Lion Tribe, remained firm and immovable 
in its adherence to the Decrees of the Lord God of 
Israel. But even Judah turned away from the service 
of the Lord, which is another example of the frailty 
of human hearts and resolutions. “And Judah did 
evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked Him 
to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, 
for they also built them high places, and images, and 
.-groves on every high hill, and under every green 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


161 


tree, and it came to pass, in the fifth year of King 
iRehoboam, that Sliishak, King of Egypt, came up 
against Jerusalem, and he took away the treasures of 
the House of the Lord, and the treasures of the 
King’s house, and he took away all the shields of gold 
which Solomon had made; and Rehoboam slept with 
his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City 
of David.” This is the first and startling announce¬ 
ment of the punishment of Israel for their defection 
from the Lord. For as the Lord had spoken His 
established Word which was to be eternally unchanged 
able , So he allowed the Kingdom of Israel to be plun¬ 
dered by Shishak the King of Egypt, because of His 
stern decree to King Solomon , as to the only condition 
whereby peace and prosperity could be maintained, 
and the sternness of the Lord was terribly demon¬ 
strated by the coming of Shishak the Egyptian King. 
Israel was again overpowered by her ancient enemy, 
and the people of Judah seemed to have become de¬ 
moralized, and although there were exceptional cases 
of Kings like Josiah and Asa, who lived up to the laiv 
of God according to their ability, yet the majority of 
the people were idolaters in heart, and they supple¬ 
mented their idolatry with a careless administration of 
even the common laws for the welfare of the people, and 
seemed to utterly disregard the law of God. The Ark 
of God was still in the Temple, and the Book of the Laiu 
was still in its side, But Israel was divided and Judah 


162 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


was alone until a time when the Syrian Army threat¬ 
ened the peace of Israel, and Ahab King of Israel 
sent to Jehoshaphat the King of Judah , and Jehosha- 
phat made peace with the King of Israel. But there 
was a curious event which happened during the reign 
of Ahaz, in the year 739, B. C., which is recorded in the 
Sixteenth Chapter of Second Kings, “And King 
Ahaz cut off the borders of the Bases , and removed 
the Laver from off them; and took down the Sea from 
off the brazen Oxen that were under it, and put it 
upon a pavement of stones .” And the strange and al¬ 
most incredible fact, which is thus recorded, dis¬ 
closes a terrible deed of sacrilege. The beautiful 
Temple , built by the command of God , and dedicated to 
Him by Solomon , King of Israel , of the tribe of Judah 
the Lion , which was even spared by Sliishak , who sim¬ 
ply took the treasure, was mutilated by the reckless 
hand of Ahaz the King of the tribe and lineage of 
Judah , and consequently a blood relative of the royal 
family of the Davidic line, yet it was his hand that was 
the instrument of the willful mutilation of the work 
of the Lord, which was embodied in the brazen Laver 
and the Sea , and he was the first to perform an act 
which would cause a change in the Temple worship , 
from the Adoration of the true God to the worship of 
idols, for by his removal of the Sea of brass from the 
Oxen which supported it, he simply removed with one 
stroke the supporting power of the Temple Sacrifice , 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


163 


for as the Sea rested upon the Animals of brass, and 
the Oxen represented the beast of special sacrifice , so 
by his removal of the Oxen from beneath the brazen 
Sea, King Ahaz typified the removal of the sacrificial 
blessings of forgiven Sin, and the Record tells us 
that “Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried 
with his fathers in the City of David, and Hezekiah his 
son reigned in his stead.” In the year 726, B. C., 
Hezekiah the son of Ahaz ascended the throne of 
Judah, and of all the Kings in the long line of the 
Hebrew Monarchy, there is not one man that lived 
nearer to the Lord, or one who was more singularly 
blessed by God, than this same Hezekiah. We are 
told that “He did that which was right in the sight, 
of the Lord.” According to all that David his father 
did, “He removed the high places, and Broke the 
images, and cut down the groves, and Broke in pieces 
the Brazen Serpent which Moses had made, For unto 
those days the children of Israel did burn incense 
unto it, and lie called it Nehushtan (a piece of brass). 
He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, for he clave to 
the Lord, and departed not from following Him, 
but kept His Commandments which the Lord com¬ 
manded Moses ; and the Lord was with him, and he 
prospered whithersoever he went forth, and he re¬ 
belled against the King of Assyria, and served him 
not.” This plain record of the disposition of 
Hezekiah is wonderful in many respects, because it 


164 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


brings ns face to face with facts that are known to 
History by means of Assyrian Books of Stone or Rolls 
of Clay , which were written on both sides, baked in 
ovens, and can be read to-day in the great British 
Museum, as a proof of History, that the Record of the 
Hebrews , as given in the Bible, can be as accurately 
'proved by careful examination of the Tablet Rolls of 
Assyria in times contemporaneous with the life of 
IlezekiaJi as the History of any nation in the known 
world, and for this reason we pause at the Eighteenth 
Chapter of Second Kings. Before this time the 
Records are very peculiarly Hebraic in quality of in¬ 
formation imparted, but now the light, the great light 
of contemporaneous History is merged into the glow¬ 
ing flame of Inspiration, and we find ourselves no 
longer wandering in the half-toned shadow of suppo¬ 
sitious presumption of facts, but lighted by the twin 
flames of Hebrew Inspiration and Historic Fact, proved 
by the material articles that are perfect answers 
within themselves to all questioning upon this vast 
subject, the honest inquirer for the literal truth of the 
Word of God will find himself ^Encompassed with a 
great cloud of Witriesses.” 

And so we find the King of Judah, honest, earnest 
Hezekiah, laboring with his people to restore, if it 
were possible, ‘‘The Old Paths and Ancient Land¬ 
marks” of The Lord, and not only did he completely 
destroy the images and groves of his idolatrous 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


165 


father, but he saw that the people were making a false 
use of the Serpent of Brass! and he was determined 
to destroy idolatry at any cost, even the destruction 
of that work of Moses, if it led the people astray, and 
it was for this reason that Hezekiah destroyed the 
Brazen Serpent. We also read that in order to ap¬ 
pease the wrath of the King of Assyria, “He cut off 
the Gold” from the Temple Boors and sent it to that 
King as the price of peace. But the Bible and the 
Records of Assyria are unanimously agreed upon the 
very sudden culmination of the Battle that ensued, 
for 185,000 men of Assyria were encamped against 
Israel at Nightfall , and every one of them were Corpses 
before the morning light. As the Angel of the Lord 
wielded his terrible sword of death during the awful 
night in Egypt before the Exodus, so He had swept 
the ranks of the army of Assyria. And, as Moses , 
Aaron , and Miriam rang the Timbrel of Victory and 
sang the great Hebrew “ Hallel ” upon the Arabian 
shore of the Egyptian Sea, so Hezekiah offered up a 
prayer of Thanksgiving for his relief and timely de¬ 
liverance in the hour of great danger. The Prophet 
Isaiah was the close friend of Hezekiah, and it was to 
him, as the prophet of the Lord, that a stern message 
was sent from the mouth of Jehovah , God of Israel, 
“And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of 
the Lord. Behold, the days are come that all that is 
in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid 


166 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon. 
Nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.” God had 
borne patiently with the people, but as Hezekiah had 
unwisely been tempted to show his remaining treas¬ 
ures, in the presence of strangers from Babylon (2nd 
Kings, 22nd chap.), it was a certainty that the King 
of that country would try to obtain possession of them, 
and Isaiah foretold in exact words the certain fate 
which was to overwhelm the City and the Temple of 
Jerusalem. And Hezekiah accepted this decree of 
God, and said, “Good is the word of the Lord, which 
thou hast spoken, if peace and truth be in my days; 
and Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseli his 
son reigned in his stead.” 

Manasseh seems to have taken a directly opposite 
course from that of his father, for we read that “He 
built up again the high places which Hezekiah his 
father had destroyed, and he reared up Altars to 
Baal , and made a grove as did Ahab, and worshipped 
all the host of Heaven and served them.” And we 
find that after a reign of wickedness he also “Slept 
with his fathers, and Amon his son reigned in his 
stead.” Amon followed in the footsteps of his father 
Manasseh, and before he had reigned two years, and 
at the age of Twenty-four, “He did that which was 
evil in the sight of the Lord, and he walked in all the 
way that his father walked in, and served the idols 
that his father served, and worshipped them.” Amon 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


167 


was killed through a conspiracy of his own servants, 
“and he was buried in his sepulchre, in the garden of 
Uzza! and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.” Now 
begins a History that is replete with thought for the 
meditative mind, for we read, “ Josiah was Eight 
years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 
Thirty and One years in Jerusalem , and he did that 
which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked 
in the way of David his father, and turned not aside 
to the right hand or to the left.” 

And we also find that after nearly 10 years of ruler- 
ship that “In the Eighteenth year of King Josiah, 
The King sent Shaphan the Scribe to the House of the 
Lord, saying, Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that 
he may sum the silver, which is brought into the 
House of the Lord, which the keepers of the door have 
gathered of the people, and let them deliver it into 
the hand of the doers of the work that have the over¬ 
sight of the house of the Lord, to repair the breaches 
of the house unto Carpenters, and Builders, and Ma¬ 
sons; and to buy Timber and Hewn Stone, to repair the 
house.” It will be noticed that this act of Josiah was 
not enforced upon him by the pressure of Divine 
power, but that it seemed to emanate from a heart that 
was ever desirous of serving the Lord in the repair¬ 
ing of His Temple. And it will also be-noticed that 
God used this very act of Josiah to please Him, as a 
means of placing His Law! once more before His neg- 


168 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


lectful People. “And Hilkiah the High Priest said 
unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the Book of .the 
Laio in the House of The Lord. And Hilkiah gave the 
Book to Shaplian, and he read it, and Shaphan the 
scribe came to the King and said, Thy Servants have 
gathered the money that was found in the house, and 
have delivered it into the hand of them that do the 
work that have the oversight of the House of the 
Lord. And Shaphan, the scribe, shewed the King, 
saying, Hilkiah the Priest hath delivered me a BookI 
and Shaphan read it before the King. And when the 
King had heard the words of The Book of The Law he 
sent his clothes, and the King commanded Hilkiah 
the Priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and 
Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, 
and Asahiah a servant of the King’s, saying, Go ye r 
enquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and 
for all Judah concerning the w T ords of this Book that is 
found, for great is the w T rath of the Lord that is 
kindled against us; because our fathers have not 
hearkened unto the words of this Book, to do according 
unto all that which is written concerning us.” This ! 
is a most important fact for us to consider, as it is the 
complete Record of the first instance of The Book of 
The Law which had been written by Moses, and had 
been placed in the Ark of God, being Removed from the 
Ark. And we also find that after King Josiah had 
listened to the solemn and awful sentence of the pun - 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


169 


ishment of the people in the event of their disobedience , 
beginning in the warning words, “Hear, O Israel, 
Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” 
Josiah realized the fearful doom of his people, and 
the terrible import of the Book of God’s Law, and 
trembled for the fate of his people, because of their 
idolatry and the repeated violation of the commands 
of God. The next step of King Josiah was to send 
the Jive men to the Temple to inquire of the Lord and 
of the people of the tribe of Judali concerning the 
words of this Book, Because he was convinced that 
the Lord was Angry with the people who had dis¬ 
obeyed His Law. He knew also that a terrible fate 
was in store for the people of Israel and Judah. And 
again we must notice the first recorded instance of a 
systematic attempt of a King and his people being in¬ 
stituted for the purpose of Atonement for a past neglect 
of duty to the Lord by the direct agency of the Book 
of God’s Law, and it is also a noticeable fact that the 
Book of the Law was kept in the Ark and hidden from 
the eyes of men for more than 800 years, or from the 
time that the law was icritten by Moses and placed in 
the side of the Ark by the Levites at his command in 
the year 1451, B. C., until the time that Hilkiah the 
high Priest, found the law and delivered it to Sliaphan 
in the reign of King Josiah, in the year of 641, B. C., 
a period of 810 years. Guarded by Divine Providence , 
amid even the wars which from time to time had de- 


170 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


vastated the City of David, Hidden from the sight of 
victorious Shishak, Safe in the ancient Ark which God 
had built for this very purpose, Hidden in the Ark of 
God, while Babylonians, with greedy eyes, were in¬ 
voicing the treasures of the Outer Temple under the 
direction of the pious, but short-sighted Hezekiah, 
God had kept it by his ever watchful, all-seeing Eye, 
safe in His Ark of strength, Hidden until the special 
moment, when in the midst of confusion and shame, 
which was mingled with repentance and a desire to live 
better lives, the King and his people were surprised 
by the statement, “7 have found the Book of the Law 
in the House of the Lord” This is a fact that should be 
kept in memory by all Masons , for as in the course of 
time and natural circumstance, National History re¬ 
peats itself, and as in the development of Nature, the 
Past is constantly reproduced by and in the Present, 
•so in Masonry. We find that Masonic Law has ever 
repeated itself in the great and sacred mysteries which 
must ever distinguish the Order from everything else 
upon earth. But in continuing the research of the men 
appointed by King Josiah, we find by referring to the 
Bible that they went to a prophetess by the name of 
Huldah. “And she said unto them, Thus saith the 
Lord God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to 
me, Thus saith the Lord, Behold I will bring evil 
upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, 
even all the words of the Book, which the King of 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


171 


Judah hath read, because they have forsaken me, and 
have burned incense to other gods, that they might 
provoke me to anger with all the works of their 
hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against 
this place, and shall not be quenched, but to the King 
of Judah, which sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus 
shall ye say to him, Thus saith the Lord God of 
Israel, because thine heart was tender, and thou hast 
humbled thyself before the Lord, I also have heard 
thee; Behold, therefore, I will gather thee unto thy 
fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in 
peace, and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which 
I will bring upon this place; and they brought the 
King word again.” The result of the inquiry and the 
answer of the Lord was a determined and successful 
effort to stamp out idolatry with a heavy hand, and 
after this had been fully completed, Josiah called 
the attention of the people to the neglected observ¬ 
ance of the Passover Night. “And the King com¬ 
manded all the people, saying, Keep the Passover 
unto the Lord your God, as it is ivritten in the Book of 
Athis Covenant But although Josiah was an earnest 
servant of God, still the City of Jerusalem was cap¬ 
tured by the Egyptians after his death, and the land 
was subjected to tribute of Silver and tribute of Gold, 
and by this arrangement the Kingdom of Judah was 
reduced to a Province of Egypt, and the Lord had 
fulfilled His Word of the Covenant. “And the Lord 


172 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight as I 
have removed Israel, and will cast off this city, 
Jerusalem, which I have chosen.” They had dis¬ 
obeyed, and must now surrender their Temple and 
their City, and we now come to the last of the Kings 
of Judah , and to the End of the Kingdom of Judah and 
the entire destruction of the Temple. We have seen 
the steady decline of the Morality and the religion of 
the people of God, and have traced their various 
leaders from the days of Moses to the days of Josiali, 
and at his death and after the death of his wicked 
son Jelioaliaz , in the land of Egypt, a Captive King,, 
and the placing upon the throne of Judah , already 
tottering upon the brink of ruin, Elihakim, also son 
of Josiah, but who occupied his throne by Egyptian 
authority, whose very name was changed by Egypt’s 
King to Jelioiakim. The wealth that still remained 
in the treasury of Judah was collected and given to 
Egypt, and after a servile reign of eight years under 
the dictation of Egypt’s King, Pharaoh-Nechoh,. 
“Nebuchadnezzah King of Babylon , came up, and 
Jehoiakim became his servant three years, then he 
turned and rebelled against him, and the Lord sent 
against him Bands of the Chaldees , and Bands of 
the Syrians , and Bands of the Moabites , and Bands of 
the Children of Ammon , and sent them against Judah 
to Destroy it according to the word of the Lord, 
which He spake by his servants the Prophets, for the 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


173 


sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did, and 
also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he 
filled Jerusalem with innocent blood which the Lord 
•would not pardon. So Jehoiakim slept with his 
fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead, 
and the King of Egypt came not any more out of his 
land, for the King of Babylon had taken from the 
River of Egypt to the River Euphrates all that per¬ 
tained to the King of Egypt.” Here, in a few plain 
words, w T e have the History of the Rise of Assyria 
and the Fall of Egypt , and the state of abject slavery 
to which the once powerful Kingdom of Israel had 
now surely fallen, first conquered by Egypt and then 
by the Assyrian King, and still w T e read that the 
slave King Jehoiachin “did that which was evil in the 
sight of the Lord,” and after eight years of slavery 
and wickedness, the time came that God had set for 
the Destruction of the Temple and the City of Jerusalem. 
“At that time, (the year 599, B. C.), the servants 
of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon, came up against 
Jerusalem, and the City was besieged, and Jehoiachin 
the King of Judah, went out to the King of Babylon, 
he and his mother, and his servants, and his Princes, 
and his Officers, and the King of Babylon took him in 
the eighth year of his reign.” This was at last the 
End Forever of the Kingdom of Judah as a 
national Power upon the earth. The surrender of 
Jehoiachin with all the Royal Household was the cul- 


174 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


mination of the Fall of the proud House of Judahs 
for although the Royal Family still kept up the sem¬ 
blance of superiority and kept the Record of the petty 
beings who from time to time should ascend the 
Ruined Throne of Judah, yet the glory of David and 
of Solomon had departed nevermore to return, for not 
only did the King of Babylon carry away the King 
and the Captives of Judah, but he also carried into 
Babylon the Treasures of the Temple , and this was 
more than had ever been done before in all the shame¬ 
ful fall of the great Kingdom of Judah. The King’s 
House had been robbed, the Temple Treasuries of 
Gold and Silver had been repeatedly emptied by suc¬ 
cessive Conquerors, but the Temple of the Lord, that 
sacred building of 20 Cubits square in the East of the 
Massive Temple, had never been molested until the 
time of the End. “And he carried out thence all the 
Treasures of the House of the Lord, and the 
Treasures of the King’s House, and cut in pieces all 
the vessels of Gold which Solomon King of Israel 
had made in the Temple of the Lord, as the Lord had 
said.” This was a terrible blow to the great King¬ 
dom of Judah. The eyes of the Babylonian visitors of 
Hezekiah’s reign had seen the vast amount of “Gold 
by weight,” which adorned the inner Temple for the 
use of the Ceremonial that God had told Solomon to 
strictly observe, and now the inevitable Result that 
had been predicted by Isaiah had come to pass, and 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


175 


the Glory of the Temple of the God of Israel was 
passed forevermore. The Light which Samuel the 
Temple Child had carefully attended under the super¬ 
vision of the aged Priest Eli, the sacred flame that 
for four centuries had been the constant care of Priest 
and Levite to preserve from even partial extinguish¬ 
ment, was now forever darkened. The Golden Altar, 
before which the Wisest King in the world’s history 
had reverently bowed his Royal Head was removed 
from its sacred place, and the Temple was ruined, but 
still the utter Destruction had not been accomplished, 
for again we read, “And he carried away all Jeru¬ 
salem, and all the Princes, and all the mighty men of 
valor, even 10,000 captives, and all the Craftsmen, and 
Smiths, none remained save the poorest sort of the 
people of the land, and all the men of might, even 
Seven Thousand, and Craftsmen and Smiths a Thou¬ 
sand. All that were strong and apt for war the King 
of Babylon brought Captive to Babylon, and the King 
of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother King 
in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah, and 
he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem, and he did that 
which was evil in the sight of the Lord, for through 
the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem 
and Judah until he had cast them out from His 
Presence, and it came to pass in the ninth year of his 
reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day 
of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar King of 




176 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Babylon came he and all his host against Jeru¬ 
salem, and pitched against it, and built forts against 
it, and the City was besieged until the eleventh year 
of King Zedekiah, and on the ninth day of the fourth 
month the famine prevailed in the City, and there was 
no bread for the people of the land, and the City was 
broken up, and the Army of the Chaldees pursued 
after the King and overtook him in the plains of 
Jericho, and all his army were scattered from him. 
So they took the King and brought him up to the 
King of Babylon at Riblah, and they gave judgment 
upon him, and they slew the sons of Zedekiah 
before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and 
bound him with fetters of Brass, and carried him to 
Babylon, and in the fifth month, on the seventh day 
of the month, which is the nineteenth year of Nebu¬ 
chadnezzar King of Babylon, came Nebuzar-Adan, 
Captain of the Guard, a servant of the King of 
Babylon unto Jerusalem, and he Burnt the House of 
the Lord, and the King’s House, aijd all the houses 
of Jerusalem, and every great man’s house burnt he 
with fire, and all the Army of the Chaldees that were 
with the Captain of the Guard Broke down the walls 
of Jerusalem round about.” 

This is the History of the melancholy fate that be¬ 
fell the beautiful City of Jerusalem and the great 
Temple. The houses were all burned in a fearful 
conflagration, and among the buildings was the Tern- 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


177 


pie of The Lord God of Israel; and while human pen 
has never written the account of that awful fire, and 
the human mind cannot conceive of the terrific splen¬ 
dor of the scene upon the great surrounding Moun¬ 
tains “Round about Jerusalem” as the mighty mass 
of cedar-lined Masonry , seasoned by the passage of the 
Centuries of Worship, dissolved beneath the wither¬ 
ing touch of Fire! the all-devouring element of De¬ 
struction. As the flames enclosed the sacred heart of 
the Temple in the East! the hand of fire still pointed 
upward from the Eastern Temple to the Heavens ! that 
were aglow in the fierce light of the Destroyer! and, 
as the peaks of Mountain, Hilltop , and Mound, re¬ 
gained their natural shape, in accord with the raising 
of the gloomy pall that hung above the ruined City, 
a perfume from the Temple Ruin filled the air with the 
fragrant Cedar! For the hand of the Chaldee Sol¬ 
diers had but lit the flame, of which the Temple was 
the Censer , the Cedar was the Oil , and the Perfume was 
the sweet Incense that ascended up to the sense of the 
God of Israel, an Offering of the Dying Glory in the 
Sacrifice of fire! Great Burnt Offerings had been 
given, but never in all the History of Temple Wor¬ 
ship was such a grand and Costly Offering as the 
Offering of The Temple! Although every house in 
the City was destroyed, yet the Temple was the 
Centre of attention. A Massive Building 60 cubits 
long, 20 cubits wide, 30 cubits high, and fronted by a 


178 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Porch of the wonderful measurement of 120 cubits in 
height and running the entire width of The Temple 
of 20 cubits breadth; Built by the hand of the skilled 
workman of Tyre. Truly, it was a mighty edifice, 
even in those days of gigantic problems of architect¬ 
ural and engineering skill , which are sufficient in their 
intricacy to baffle the brightest minds of the expert 
Mechanics and Masons of this era of learning. And 
it is this Building, whose final ending is of the great¬ 
est interest to the Masonic reader, for it was within 
these walls that the divine plan of the Great Architect 
of the Universe were laid upon the trestleboard of the 
Master Mason of the workmen. It was upon the mosaic 
pavement of the ground floor of this wonderful struc¬ 
ture that the Burden Bearer was taught the “first step 
in Masonry ,” and where his mind was first enlightened 
from the darkness of a natural existence by the won¬ 
derful brilliance of the great light of the Masonic Uni¬ 
verse. And it was here , also, that the Hewer of Cedar 
and Squarer of Stone met the Master for a trial of their 
proficiency and advancement in the “second step;” and 
here it was that the “passing Reiver ” viewed the giant 
Brazen Pillars, as his duties called for his presence 
between them on his entrance to the inner Temple; and 
it was here that the quarry worker and the Temple 
Master met for consultation and the payment of the 
wages due. 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


179 


And here it was in the Eastern Point that Solomon 
the Master, had issued his ivill and pleasure, in regard 
to the manner of the Building of The Temple of The 
Lord. Here in the inner House He had placed the sa¬ 
cred Ark, and it was also here that the great masonic 
King had Kneeled at the Altar of Gold, and in the pres¬ 
ence of the Book of God’s Law had invoked the bless¬ 
ing of God upon himself and upon his loved people 
Israel. And now Israel is dispersed, and Judah is 
Captive in Babylon, Jerusalem! The Golden, The 
Beautiful, The Peaceful! Torn in shreds by the wan¬ 
ton soldiery, her Walls battered down, her beautiful 
homes destroyed, her people gone, her streets piled 
high with the debris of happy households now forever 
ruined by fire and war. But still the Temple, the 
House of God\ will he not protect that building? He 
has protected through the rolling Centuries! Has the 
Lord God of Israel forsaken Jerusalem? Nebuzar-Adan 
enters the Porch, he looks on the beautiful massive 
pillars of brass, he notices the strength aud solidity of 
the metal, his eye lights upon the Chapiters of Lily 
work, Chain work and the marvelous Net work of 
Chains entereathed about the Capital; he notices the 
double row of Pomegranates upon the Lily work, Union, 
Strength, Prosperity! Centuries Ago, but not now. 
Temple of Israel! The Destroyer is upon thee! Nebu- 
zar-Adan turns to the right. A Counterpart of the 
left hand pillar is also guarding the Ruined Door! His 


180 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


quick eye notices the wondrous beauty and actual 
value of these pillars. They must be carried to Bab¬ 
ylon, a Trophy of his enterprise. First remove these 
Pillars! then Destroy the Temple of God, “And the 
pillars of Brass that were in the house of the Lord, 
and the Bases, and the Brazen Sea that was in the 
house of the Lord, The Chaldeans brake, and carried 
all the Brass to Babylon, the Caldrons also, and the 
Shovels, and the Snuffers, and the Bowls, and the 
Spoons, and all the vessels of Brass took they away, 
and the Basons, and the Fire pans, and the Boiols, and 
the Caldrons, and the Candlesticks, and the Spioons, and 
the Cups. That which was of Gold, in Gold, and that 
which was of Silver, in Silver, took the ‘ Captain of 
the guard ’ away. The two Pillars, one Sea and twelve 
brazen Bulls that were under the Bases which King 
Solomon had made in the house of the Lord. The 
Brass of all these vessels was without weight.” (It 
will be remembered that the Oxen had previously been 
removed and given away!) “And, concerning the 
Pillars , the height of One Pillar was 18 Cubits, and a 
fillet of 12 cubits did compass it, and the Thickness 
thereof was J+ fingers', it was hollow. And a Chapiter of 
Brass was upon it, and the height of One chapiter was 
5 cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the 
Chapiters round about, All of Brass! and the Second 
Pillar also and the Pomegranates were like unto these. 
And there were Ninety and Six pomegranates on a 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


181 


side, and all the pomegranates upon the Network were 
a hundred, round about.” 

Again, we call the attention of the reader to the ac¬ 
curate detail of the Pillars of Brass in the Porch of the 
Temple, and the actual height and perfect description 
of Ornamentation which was noticed and written by 
Jeremiah the Prophet of God, after the total Destruc¬ 
tion of the City and the Temple by the great conjla - 
gration of the year 588 B. C. And, after a complete 
detailed account of the depopulation of the City by 
means of an enforced departure into captivity of all 
the people, with the exception of a small remnant who 
were left to till the soil and dress the vines, we read 
that “ Judah ivas carried away Captive out of his own 
land.” And thus the Books of the Kings and the 
Book of Jeremiah close with a brief history of the 
last days of the last of the Kings of Judah’s ancient 
lineage in the Captivity of Babylonia\ 

“And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth 
year of the Captivity of Jehoiachin King of Judah, that 
Evil Merodacli King of Babylon, in the first year of 
his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin King of 
Judah, and brought him forth out of prison, and spake 
kindly unto him, and changed his prison garments, 
and he did' continually eat Bread before him all the 
days of his life, every day a portion, until the day of 
his death.” This was the saddest terminal of national 
life and prosperity that ever befell a people in all the 


182 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


annals of History brought out of Bondage, Blessed by 
the true God of Heaven and Earth, Defended by 
Angels, Temple Builders, by a plan Given from the 
mind of God, a prosperous and happy people, with a 
just and wise Ruler, and with every promise of the 
Infinite Creator upon the One Condition of Loyalty to 
Him, with a Wealth of Gold and Silver that has never 
been equaled, with a Temple of Worship compared with 
which the Temple of the Sun at Baal-Bek in Syria is 
but an atom. The Halls of the Temple of Karnac are 
but attempts at modeling, and the wonderful Naves 
and Aisles of the Westminster Abbey of England, of 
St. Peter’s at Rome, of the Parthenon at Athens, of 
the lovely Taj-Mahal of India, the Temples of Diana, 
of Minerva, of Apollo, of all the combined Beauty of 
the Doric, Tuscan, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite 
orders of Architectural Masonry, All the Strength, Beauty 
and Grace of the Architect, the Engraver, the Carpen¬ 
ter, the Designer were combined in the unified effort of 
Master Masonry to weld the Wisdom, Strength, and 
Beauty of the Tyrian, Egyptian, and Assyrian Art in 
the construction of that Perfect Temple of the Perfect 
Deity, the Lord God Jehovah, God of Israel forever, 
but by the idolatry of His Chosen people, his support 
was withdrawn, and the literal and complete Destruc¬ 
tion of the City and the Temple was a Result of Dis¬ 
obedience. 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


183 


CHAPTER V. 

THE EASTERN STAR. 

The precise date of the destruction of Jerusalem 
was July, 588, B. C., and for nearly forty years after 
that time the Hebrew Captives were without hope of 
ever being released from the King of Babylon. They 
had no City, their Temple had been destroyed by fire, 
and all the horrors of the broken Law were fully ex¬ 
perienced by the unhappy people who were rendered 
still more miserable by the thought of a former pros¬ 
perity that had forever passed away, and the gloom 
and darkness of the years of Captivity were twin 
shadows that were ever hovering above their hopeless 
lives. But about the time of 550, B. C., and during 
the advancement of Cyrus of Persia, (Cyrus 2d,) 
the horizon of the future was tinted with the roseate 
hue of the dawn of better days, indeed the kindness 
of the King to the unfortunate King of Judah was an 
index of the relaxation of the iron grip of Assyrian 
dominion, and the succeeding events corroborated the 
frail hope of a possible release from the rule of their 
enemies. Isaiah had prophesied that a release would 
come to the people of God, and that the City and 
Temple would be restored , and the Kingdom of Israel 
again be set up ivithin Jerusalem, and when Cyrus the 


184 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Second King of Persia entered into the Kingdom of 
Babylonia , and took possession of the entire country, 
the light of prophecy increased as the famous Edict 
of Cyrus was issued by the Persian King. The 
Temple at Jerusalem was ordered to be rebuilded under 
the protectorate of the King of Persia who also was 
conqueror and King of Babylonia , this record is found 
in the Book of Ezra, “Now in the first year of Cyrus 
King of Persia, the Lord stirred up the spirit of 
Gyrus King of Persia, that he made a Proclamation 
throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writ¬ 
ing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus King of Persia, The 
Lord God of Heaven hath given me all the Kingdoms 
of the Earth; and He hath charged me to build him a 
house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there 
among you of all his people? His God be with him, 
and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, 
and Build the house of the Lord God of Israel, which 
is in Jerusalem.' And whosoever remaineth in any 
place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place 
help him with Silver, and with Gold, and with Goods, 
and with Beasts, Besides the Free Will Offering for 
the House of God which is in Jerusalem. 

Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and 
Benjamin, and the Priests, and the Levites, with all 
them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to Build 
the house of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem. And 
all they that were about them strengthened their 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


185 


hands with vessels of Silver, with Gold, with Goods, 
and with Beasts, and with precious things, beside all 
that was willingly offered. Also Cyrus the King 
brought forth the vessels of the House of the Lord, 
which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Je¬ 
rusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods. 
Even those did Cyrus King of Persia bring forth by 
the hand of Mithredath the Treasurer, and numbered 
them unto Sheshbazzar, the Prince of Judah. And 
this is the number of them: Thirty chargers of Gold, 
a Thousand chargers of Silver, Nine and Twenty 
Knives, Thirty Basons of Gold, Silver Basons of a 
second sort Four hundred and Ten, and other vessels 
a Thousand. All the vessels of Gold and of Silver 
were Five Thousand and Four Hundred. All these 
did Sheshbazzar bring up with them of the captivity 
that were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem. The 
whole congregation together was Forty and Two 
Thousand three hundred and three score. And when 
the Seventh month was come, and the children of 
Israel were in the Cities, the people gathered them¬ 
selves together as one man to Jerusalem. Then stood 
up Joshua! the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the 
Priests, and Zerubbabel The son of Shealtiel, and his 
brethren, and Builded the Altar of The God of Israel, 
to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the 
law of Moses the man of God. And they set the 
Altar upon his Bases: for fear was upon them because 


186 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


of the people of those countries: and they offered 
burnt offerings thereon unto The Lord Morning and 
Evening. They kept also The Feast of Taber¬ 
nacles as it is written, and offered the daily burnt 
offerings by number, according to the custom, as the 
duty of every day required; and afterward offered the 
continual burnt offering, Both of the New Moons, and 
of all the set feasts of the Lord that were consecrated, 
and of every one that willingly offered a free will offer¬ 
ing unto the Lord. From the first day of the Seventh 
Month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the 
Lord. But the foundation of the Temple of the Lord 
was not yet laid. They gave money also unto the 
Masons, and to the Carpenters; and meat, and drink, 
and oil to them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to 
bring Cedar trees from Lebanon to the Sea of Joppa, 
according to the grant that they had of Cyrus King 
of Persia. Now, in the second year of their coming 
unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the Second 
Month, began Zerubbabel and Joshua, and the remnant of 
their brethren the Priests and the Levites, and all 
they that were come up out of the captivity unto Jeru¬ 
salem, and appointed the Levites, from Twenty years 
old and upwards, to set forward the work of the 
house of the Lord. 

And when the builders laid the foundation of the 
temple of the Lord, many of the Priests, and Le¬ 
vites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


187 


that had seen the First House , when the foundation of 
this House was laid before their eyes , wept with a loud 
voice; and many shouted aloud for joy.” It will be 
remembered that the First Temple had been Destroyed 
entirely by fire, and that the walls of Jerusalem had 
been broken doivn, and in consequence the debris of 
dust , ashes , and burned stones must be removed , and the 
Ruins of the first Temple must be thoroughly explored , 
and all the obstructions thrown out of the way of the 
workmen before the first course of the new foundation 
could be properly laid, and when this had been ac¬ 
complished, and the foundation had been laid in the 
presence of all the people, while they rejoiced in the 
hope of future prosperity. This was in the year 535 
B. C., and it was two years after the Decree of Cyrus 
had been issued, which was 537 B. C. The people of 
the province of Samaria , being fearful that the He- 
breivs would regain their lost Kingdom and invade 
their territory by force, sent a letter to the King of 
Persia, who had succeeded Cyrus. The name of this 
King was Ahasuerus! and it was in the year 529 B. C., 
which was six years after the foundation had been 
laid by Joshua and Zerubbabel , and the time had all 
been employed in exploring the Ruins of the First Tem¬ 
ple, and in removing the enormous masses of charred 
material from the building site where many thousands 
of trained Masons had labored for Seven Years in the 
construction of the great Temple, and these later 


188 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


workmen were laboring amid the watchful eyes of 
enemies while the early temple workers built it in a 
time of peace. And the thoughtful reader will be im¬ 
pressed with the courage which was required, and 
was possessed by these children of later Israel in 
their almost hopeless task of Rebuilding the ruined 
Temple of the Lord, for they were confronted in the 
very outset by the Rubbish and Wreckage of the 
burned mass of Stone , and in the year 522 B. C., or 15 
years after they had received the decree of Gyrus per¬ 
mitting them to rebuild the Temple, they were 
obliged to desist from their gigantic undertaking by 
a very peremptory letter from King Artaxerxes , who 
had succeeded King Ahasuerus as the King of 
Persia. This King had been prevailed upon by the 
enemies of Judah in Samaria to stop the people of 
Judah in their attempt to rebuild Jerusalem and the 
temple. “Then ceased the work of the House of the 
Lord, which is at Jerusalem, so it ceased unto the 
second year of the reign of Darius King of Persia.” 
This was two years later , and thus the work of 
restoring the City and the Temple was delayed until 
the year 520 B. C., and then the Prophets Haggai and 
Zachariah the sons of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews 
that were in Judali and Jerusalem in the name of the 
Lord God of Israel even unto them. This was the 
first time since the Captivity that God had spoken to 
His people by the word of His Prophets. “Then rose 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


189 


up Zerubbabel and Joshua the son of Jozadak, and 
began to Build the House of God which is at Jeru¬ 
salem, and with them were the Prophets of God helping 
them.” They were beginning again to experience the 
presence of the Lord in the persons of His Prophets , 
and the Light was steadily increasing when another 
enemy of Judah rose up in the person of Tatnai. 
“At the same time came to them Tatnai Governor on 
this side the River, and said thus unto them, Who 
hath commanded you to Build this House and to make 
up this wall? But the Eye of their God was upon the 
Elders of the Jews that they could not cause them to 
cease till the matter came to Darius, and then they 
returned answer by letter concerning this matter. 
The copy of this letter that Tatnai the Governor on 
this side the River sent unto Darius the King: All 
Peace. Be it known unto the King that we went into 
the Province of Judah to the House of the great God , 
which is builded with great stones , and Timber is laid 
in the walls, and this work goeth fast on, and pros¬ 
pered in their hands. Then asked we those Elders 
and said unto them thus: Who commanded you to 
build this house and to make up these walls? We 
asked their names also to certify thee that we might 
write the names of the men that were the chief of 
them, and thus they returned us answer saying: We 
are the servants of the God of Heaven and Earth, 
and build the House that ivas builded these many 


190 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


years ago which a great King of Israel Builded and set 
up, but after that our fathers had provoked the God of 
Heaven and Earth unto Wrath he gave them into the 
hand of Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon, the 
Chaldean who destroyed this house and carried the 
people away into Babylon. But in the first year of 
Cyrus the King of Babylon the same Cyrus made a 
decree to build this house of God and the vessels also 
of Gold and Silver of the house of God which Nebu¬ 
chadnezzar took out of the Temple that was in Jeru¬ 
salem and brought them into the Temple of Babylon. 
Those did Cyrus the King take out of the Temple of 
Babylon, and they were delivered unto one whose 
name was Sheshbazzar whom he had made governor, 
and said unto him: Take these vessels, go and carry 
them into the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the 
House of God be builded in his place. 

Then came the same Sheshbazzar and laid the 
foundation of the house of God, which is in Jerusa¬ 
lem. And since that time, even until now, hath it 
been in building, and yet it is not finished. Now, 
therefore, if it seem good to the King let there be 
search made, in the King’s treasure house which 
is there at Babylon, whether it be so that a decree was 
made by Cijrus the King to Build this house of God at 
Jerusalem, and let the King send his pleasure to us 
concerning this matter.” It will be a great satisfac¬ 
tion to every Christian Mason to be certain of this fact 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


191 


in regard to Masonry, that the Bible is supported, in 
every single instance of Historic utterance, by actual 
events Recorded by living Nations, and by the literal 
records of Nations and Kingdoms that have swayed 
the World of Men. and in the momentous march 
through the dim archways of time the deeds of their 
great ones have been faithfully traced and sacredly 
preserved in the Archives of National Life and History, 
and these Records have been Kept for Ages, after the 
hands that wrote them had mouldered away to dust. 
It was thus with the King of Babylon and Persia, the 
great Cyrus the Second, for the Decree of the Persian 
had been transcribed and filed away in the Archives of 
the Kingdom, and remained as silent witness of the 
plan to again restore the Ancient Temple of the God of 
Israel. 

“Then Darius the King made a decree. And search 
was made in the House of the Rolls, where the treas¬ 
ures were laid up in Babylon, and there was found at 
Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of the 
Medes, a Roll! and therein was a Record, thus writ¬ 
ten, “In the first year of Cyrus the King, the same 
Cyrus the King made a decree concerning the house of 
the Lord at Jerusalem. Let the house be builded in the 
place where they offered sacrifices, and let the founda¬ 
tions thereof be strongly laid, the height thereof three¬ 
score Cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore Cu¬ 
bits, with three rows of great stones and a row of New 


192 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Timber, and let the Expenses be given out of the King's 
house. And also let the golden and silver vessels of 
the House of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth 
out of the temple which is at Jerusalem,‘and brought 
unto Babylon to be restored and brought again unto 
the temple which is at Jerusalem, every one to his 
place, and place them in the house of God. Now, 
therefore, Tatnai! governor beyond the River, She- 
thar Boznai, and your companions, the Apharsachites 
which are beyond the River, be ye far from thence! 
Let the work of this house of God alone, let the gov¬ 
ernor of the Jews and the Elders of the Jews build 
this house of God in his place. I, Darius, have made a 
decree! let it be done with speed." This decree of the 
great Darius was the legal document that was the re¬ 
sult of the search among the Decrees of Cyrus the 
Persian, for the laws and decrees of the Medes and 
Persians were unalterable ! And thus the Jews were 
more secure than ever by the re-enforcement of the 
original decree by Darius the Median, and by its au¬ 
thority the toilers of the neiv temple were encouraged 
and their enemies silenced. “And they Builded and 
finished it according to the copimandment of the God 
of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cy¬ 
rus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes King of Persia. 
And this house was finished on the third day of the 
month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign 
of Darius the King.” 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


193 


In the year 457 B. C. there was a visitor from Bab¬ 
ylon by the name of Ezra , and we read that he was “a 
Ready Scribe , and that the hand of his God was upon 
him; that he was the grandson of Hilkiah the Priest, 
who had found the Book of the Law, in the days of 
King Josiah, and by Birth and family right he was 
not only a Scribe, but was also a Priest of the special 
tribe of Levites. And after the receipt of a letter 
of commission from King Artaxerxes, he started at 
once for Jerusalem, leaving Babylon on the first day 
of the first month, and arriving in Jerusalem on the 
first day of the fifth month, thus traveling a four 
months’ journey. He was a man who had prepared 
his heart to seek the Law of the Lord. And by a spe¬ 
cial decree of Artaxerxes all the people of Judah were 
allowed to leave Babylon and go to Jerusalem , and it is 
a wonderful fact that although the Ark of the Cov¬ 
enant had been forever lost amid the fiery ruins of the 
first Temples till there was one man who had copied the 
Law , and had preserved it even in the land of Bab¬ 
ylonia. And of this man Ezra! the record tells us 
that ‘ ‘Ezra was a ready Scribe in the Laiv of Moses , 
which the Lord God of Israel had given him, for Ezra 
had prepared his heart to seek the laiv of the Lord 
and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judg¬ 
ments.” Now this is a Copy of the letter that the 
King Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the Priest , the Scribe , 
even a Scribe of the words of the commandments of 


194 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


the Lord and of His statutes to IsraelThis was a won¬ 
derful fact, that though the Tables of Stone were ir¬ 
revocably lost, yet Ezra the Scribe possessed a Copy 
of the Ten Commandments, and the statutory laics of 
the Book of the Laic that was written by Moses and 
found in the Ark by Hilkiah, who was the Grand Sire 
of Ezra the Priest and ready Scribe. And we have 
another proof of this same fact in this declaration 
that Artaxerxes made to all the people, and the letter 
which he wrote and gave to Ezra the Scribe authoriz¬ 
ing him to teach the Laic of God. And this was a De¬ 
cree which can still be deciphered upon the Tablets 
and Rolls of the Assyrian Kingdom, and are carefully 
preserved among the Ancient Testimonials as to the ac¬ 
curacy of the Bible, which are treasured up in the 
Archcelogic Museums of the science of Anthropology, and 
can be read to-day by the student and Master of Ancient 
History. 

The Bible also gives a Copy of the Decree of 
Artaxerxes in regard to the Validity of Ezra’s com¬ 
mission and ability to teach the Written Law of God to the 
people of Jerusalem. “Artaxerxes King of Kings 
unto Ezra the Priest, a Scribe of the Law of the God 
of Heaven, perfect peace, I make a Decree. Foras¬ 
much as thou art sent of the King, and of his Seven 
Counsellors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, 
according to the law of thy God which is in thine 
hand; and thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


195 


is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may 
judge all the people that are beyond the river, all 
such as know the laics of thy God; and teach ye them 
that know them not.” This was a very im¬ 
portant commission for Ezra to fulfill, for this reason: 
The former temple builders w T ere in possession of 
the Ark of the Covenant of the God of Israel, and it 
was in the tabernacle of David during all the seven 
years of the Building of the Temple, but now it was 
destroyed , and it was an uncertainty as to whether the 
Lord would even recognize or accept the offering of a 
people that had lost His favor by their disobedience. 
There was but little encouragement for Ezra, for even 
his claims as a Scribe rested principally upon the fact 
that he had Copied the Law of God , and his authority 
as a teacher of these laws was now dependent upon 
the written decree of a human King, and he a 
foreigner, and at one time an enemy by nature to the 
Hebrew people, but in the face of all the discouraging 
aspects of his mission Ezra the Priest the Scribe 
traveled to Jerusalem , taking four months for the 
journey, and when he arrived in the City the first con¬ 
dition of the people that he seems to have specially 
noticed was the relations that existed between the 
Hebrew families. He saw that the people of Judah 
had departed from the ancient law by marriage with 
other Nations, and thus having women among them 
that were not of the people of the Hebrew race. This 


196 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


he called attention to by reference to the forgotten 
law of God, and after regulating this matter as best 
he could by calling for a separation of those who had 
not violated this law from those who had done so, he 
proceeded to instruct the people in the duties of their 
positions, and urged a rigid adherence to the law as it 
had been spoken by the Lord, and the record says: 
“All the people gathered themselves together as one 
man into the street that was before the water gate, 
and they spake unto Ezra the Scribe to bring the 
Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had com¬ 
manded to Israel, and Ezra the Priest brought the 
law before the congregation, both of men and women, 
and all that could hear with understanding, upon the 
first day of the seventh month, and he read therein 
before the street that was before the water gate from 
the morning until midday before the men and the 
women and those that could understand, and the ears 
of all the people were attentive unto the Book of the 
Law , and Ezra the Scribe stood upon a pulpit of ivood, 
which they had made for the purpose, and Ezra 
opened the Book in the sight of all the people, and 
when he opened it all the people stood up, and Ezra 
blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the jieople 
ansivered Amen, Amen! with lifting up their hands, and 
they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with 
their faces to the ground. Also Joshua and the 
Levites caused the people to understand the law, and 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


197 


the people stood in their place, and Nehemiah, which 
is the Tirshatha (Governor), and Ezra the Priest 
Scribe and the Levites that taught the people, said 
unto all the people: This Day is Holy unto the Lord 
your God, mourn not, nor weep, for all the people 
wept when they heard the words of the law, and on 
the second day were gathered together the chief of 
the fathers of all the people, the Priests and the 
Levites unto Ezra the Scribe to understand the words 
of the law , and they found written in the law which 
the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children 
of Israel should dwell in Booths in the feast of the 
seventh month, and that they should publish and 
proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying : 
Go forth unto the mount and fetch Olive branches, 
and Pine branches, and Myrtle branches, and Palm 
branches, and branches of thick trees, to make Booths 
as it is written. (Leviticus, 23d Chap.) 

So the people went forth and brought them and 
made themselves Booths; every one upon the roof of 
his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of 
the House of God, and in the street of the Watergate, 
and in the street of the gate of Ephraim. And all the 
congregation of them that were come again out of 
the captivity made Booths, and sat under the Booths, 
for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun unto 
that day had not the children of Israel done so, and 
there was very gre&fc gladness. Also Day by Day, 


198 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


from the first day unto the last day, he read in the 
Book of the law of God, and they kept the feast seven 
days, and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly.” 
This wonderful attempt of the people to secure the 
favor of the Lord was followed by a still more won¬ 
derful effort. A solemn Fast was proclaimed, and the 
people made an open confession of their condition and 
their sinful lives, and while acknowledging the jus¬ 
tice of the fate which had overtaken them and re¬ 
penting bitterly the history of the past, they prayed 
to be forgiven, and voluntarily made a neiv Covenant , 
which was sealed by their Princes, Priests, and Levites, 
and a record of those who affixed their names to the 
Covenant can be found in the 10th Chap, of the Book 
of Nehemiah. And in the last chapters of this Book of 
Nehemiah we read that the people made every possi¬ 
ble effort to please the Lord, but without securing the 
wished for blessing of His Holy Presence in the tem¬ 
ple which they had built for his worship. At the ded¬ 
ication of the Solomonic Temple the Ark of the Lord 
was present, and God had directed the ivork in His 
own person by the Presence of the Cloud upon the 
Ark of God. But after the Covenant had been vio¬ 
lated by Kings and people, the Cloud of God was 
withdrawn from the Ark of God, the Temple was 
robbed of its sacred treasures, the Altar of Gold was 
removed by impious hands, the Pillars of the Porch 
were broken and carried away, and at last, when the 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


199 


national wickedness had absorbed them in one com¬ 
munity of Idolaters, God retired from them. The Ark 
was lost, its mission was ended. The Temple was 
Burnt, and the walls of Jerusalem were broken and 
burnt, and although Nehemiah and Ezra , by the noblest 
efforts, sought to obtain the coveted blessing of the 
Lord, and while the firm determination and steady 
courage of Zerubbabel and Joshua endeavored to re¬ 
place the ruined Temple of God by another built by 
repentant children of the tribe of Judah. So the 
Covenant they tried to establish was a human idea 
built upon ruined hope and broken promises that were 
never to be forgotten by a just and discriminating 
God. This was the real condition of the chosen peo¬ 
ple of God in the year of 433 B. C., and it is a semi¬ 
darkness in comparison with the Captivity of Judah 
in Babylon , but still the light of the forgiveness of 
God had not yet appeared to gladden the hearts of the 
waiting people, and in the year 367 B. C., (or 66 years 
later,) we find that Joshua was killed by his Brother 
in the Temple, and from that time until the days of 
Judas Maccabeus, (who was surnamed “ The Ham¬ 
merer,' 1 ” because of the fury of his onslaughts and 
the indomitable bravery of his acts of war). There 
was a constant overturning of the City and the Tem¬ 
ple. Assaulted in turn by the victorious armies of 
King Alexander, (the Grecian Thunderbolt,) in the 
year 332, B. C., and again by the Egyptian Monarch, 


200 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


who was Ptolemy Soter I., in the year of 320 B. C., 
and still again by the Roman-Antiochus III. of 
Syria in the year 226, B. C. And History informs us 
that the Temple Vessels were Sold to Menelaus at an 
auction Sale of Bribes in 172 B. C,, and again Mene¬ 
laus was defeated by Jason in 168, B. C., until the 
magnificent Defense of the Temple by the aged 
Priest Mattathias and his devoted sons was merged 
into the fearful Battle of Beth-horan in 167, B. C., 
when “Judas the Hammerer” the great Son of the 
brave old Priest Mattathias, Drove the enemies of 
Judah into utter rout and overwhelming Defeat. 
Then the Temple of God was in the hands of Lysias 
with a force of 65,000 men; but Judas the Splendid 
the iron-handed Hammerer, with an inferior number, 
but also with invincible courage andiron Will Power, 
Entered Jerusalem , and dislodging the enemies of 
God’s people from within the walls of the sacred 
City Sets the mailed foot of Judah's Soldier upon the 
ringing pavement of the outer Court, and marches 
with determined step within the Temple Gates. The 
Sacred Vessels were rescued and replaced in the 
presence of the Armed Soldiers of the great “ Ham¬ 
merer ” of the Tribe of Judah, for as David was the 
shepherd King, as Ezra was the Priestly Scribe, as Sol¬ 
omon was the Royal Master, so Judas was the Warrior 
Priest; and under the stern eye of “The Hammerer,” 
who ordered the cleansing of the Temple and its Re- 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


201 


Dedication to the service of God while stern-faced 
Soldiers of Judah, with Blades of tempered steel, 
Guarded the Priests and th eBooJc of the Law , and so the 
feast of the Re-Dedication was instituted in the year 
166, B. C., and Judas Maccabeus was the Champion of 
Judah and the people’s rights with a Constitution of 
Law written with a Sword upon the History of Jeru¬ 
salem. But at the Battle of Eleasa in 161, B. C., the 
tide of fortune turned upon the people of Judah. 
Judas, with his minor force of brave hearted deter¬ 
mined Sons of Judah , Resisted the opposing Armies 
of their ancient enemy Syria unto the very death. 
Judas was killed, and as the great Maccabean fell, his 
naked sword crimsoned with the blood of the enemies 
of the tribe of Judah, the flaming Light that seemed to 
have gained ascendancy through the herculean efforts 
and unconquerable Will of the Soldier-Priest was 
suddenly dimmed and nearly extinguished in the 
hearts of the expectant people by the Battle Sacrifice 
of the Noble Maccabean, and again the clouds of dark¬ 
ness began to gather in an awful sombre pall of im¬ 
penetrable hopelessness, and when in the year of 63, 
B. C., the Roman Pompey trod the sacred floor of 
the Holy of Holies , “Walking rough shod where 
Angels fear to tread,” the people of Jerusalem re¬ 
coiled in horror, as 12,000 of the Men of Hebrew Blood 
were massacred in the Temple of God; in the year 
of 40, B. C., Herod, by the good will of Octavian and 


202 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Antony, was decreed by the Roman Senate as the 
King of Judea, and in the year 37, B. C., after a 
frightful carnage of a siege of six months, Herod 
enters the City of Jerusalem, and after building a 
Theater in that city and an Amphitheater at Jericho, 
he remodeled the temple in the year 18, B. C., and to 
show the awful state of affairs during the adminis¬ 
tration of Herod in the year 4, B. C., we find that 
two Jewish Rabbis were burnt alive for objecting to 
the placing of the Golden Eagle over the gate of the 
temple; the Eagle was the Symbol of Rome, and the 
Rabbis naturally opposed the placing of a Human 
Emblem of power upon a temple dedicated to the 
worship of Israel’s God. This is the history of the 
three temples that were built in the name of the Lord 
God of Israel from the time of Solomon until the days 
of Herod , and in all that time of years of inter¬ 
mittent Hope and Despair, Faith and Idolatry, Peace 
and War, Clouded by Disobedience, Obscured by the 
Avarice and Passion of frail Humanity, seemingly 
lost in the Captivity of Babylon, and forever extin¬ 
guished in the Tyranny of the Roman Power, still 
there was a Light, a steady, clear, and penetrating 
Light that was steadily advancing toward the Zenith of 
the celestial arch that spanned the Universe of God 
above their heads, for while the armed forces of na¬ 
tional avarice and ambition were grappling with Vic¬ 
tory and Death upon the battlefields of the semi-civil- 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


203 


ized world, while Egyptian, Assyrian, Grecian and Ro¬ 
man were contesting for supremacy of Rule and acces¬ 
sion of Territory, a Master Force was developing, while 
the chosen people of the Most High God of Heaven and 
Earth were bowing before the Calf in the wilderness, 
while chosen Kings of Israel were demonetizing their 
treasuries and debauching their Spiritual and Mental 
powers of perceptive Reason , while a Temple that 
God had built in wonderful perfection from a Divine 
plan of Architecture had been surrendered piece¬ 
meal to His Foes, while a captive band of broken¬ 
hearted people of Judali were lamenting their fate by 
the streams of Babylon with the Harps that rang with 
the sweet notes of glorious *Hebrew Melodies 
hung idly upon the willows, while the earnest plead¬ 
ings of Nehemiah and his subsequent release and Re¬ 
construction of the Temple was in process of fulfill¬ 
ment during the great convocation of the people in 
Jerusalem, while Ezra the Priest-Scribe for Seven 
Days consecutively read to the great Assembly from 
the Book of the Law, During the 400 succeeding 
years of alternate possession and loss of City and 
Temple by the people to whom it belonged by the 
word of God through His Prophets, while 12,000 
Men of Hebrew blood were slain in defense of the 
restored Temple and City in the terrible massacre that 
was perpetrated by the Romans under the leadership 


*Byron 




204 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


of the brutal Pompey, whose barbarian foot knew 
not respect for a Temple of Worship of the True 
God, and while Teachers were burned alive by the 
order of a usurper who was kept in power by the 
government of Rome because of their fidelity to the 
ancient faith of Israel’s God, through all the varied 
lights and shades of the life of human endeavor in 
the onward struggle and vain hope of solving Life’s 
Mystery and Death’s Secret, there was a Ray of 
Light as clear and radiant as the pearls of sunlight 
reflected in the golden setting of a shower in the time 
of Sunset, a Light so pure and true to the grand 
principles of Nature in the elevated strata of her 
stellar kingdom that in obedience to the great 
Designer that it began its journey of ever increasing 
radiance, and left the glorious region of its birth¬ 
place in the Central sphere of the great Universe of 
Plenetary Stellar and Solar systems to travel onward, 
downward, earthward, Eastward , crossing the path¬ 
way of blazing Planets, whose Continents and Oceans 
had long since ceased to exist, and whose very forms 
were being dissolved in the fierce crucibles of their 
flaming Orbits of Atmospheric Conflagration. Still 
onward amid the crash of exploding Meteors and 
melting Nebulae that flashed a scintillating tempest 
of Asteroids, Meteorites and Comets into the bound¬ 
less expanse of Aerial plateaus of Ethereal Atmos¬ 
phere. Still Onward and Downward till the beauteous 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


205 


shaft of Starry Light is flashed across the far off 
Worlds of Jupiter and Mars; Saturn, with its endless 
Circle of transparent rings of interwoven glory is 
lighted with the dazzling beauty of that Heaven Born 
Light as with incredible swiftness it passes onward, 
downward, until the rainboioed colors of electrified 
intensity and the condensed Brilliancy of a thousand 
prisms of the enchained hues of midnight Lightning 
were reflected upon the great and unknown surface 
of the planet Venus. Still Onward, Downward, 
guided by the hand of God through the laics of Nature, 
Downward, Downward, Eastioard. The increasing 
brightness sweeps by the Central Guard of the 
Pleades in the glittering burnished Aurora of the full 
Electric Life of Stellar flight. Out and Beyond 
the dying Moon, “Pale Sister of the Sun,” lighting 
its fearful wilderness of incinerated mountain 
ranges and naked beds of vanished seas with the 
awful searchlight of a passing World. Still Onward, 
past the Eastern Sunrise Gate, leaving the glorious 
Luminary and speeding on still in the downward 
course of fast receding regions of Sun and Moon and 
Planet until with ever increasing brilliancy the 
Light pierces with clear and cutting powder the 
Clouded Canopy of the low T er Heaven. It gleams upon 
the Curtain of the Storm Cloud, and ornaments it 
with xl fringe of Gold. It paints with Alabaster white¬ 
ness the fleecy cloud that is wafted by gentle zephyrs 


206 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


across the blue celestial sea of space in the sweet 
clearness of a perfect summer day. 

Nearer, Nearer, comes the Light , gleaming in super¬ 
natural flame upon the far horizon of the Sunrise! Its 
glittering spearpoint gilds the ancient Temple of 
Baalbek. It illuminates, for a splendid instant, the 
gloomy, silent Halls of Karnac! The gray shadows 
of Centuries of Superstition are for a moment lifted 
from the great Pyramid of Egypt’s King! The silent 
Sphinx of the desert is Outlined and Developed by 
the Sword of Lightning, that has cut the desert dark¬ 
ness with the blade of celestial radiance. The Per¬ 
sian Worshipper of Mithrates raises a wistful face. 
The Bowed form at the Altar of Amen-Ra trembles as 
the beautiful ray steals upon his startled sight. The 
High Priest of the Tabernacle of God in the Wilder¬ 
ness lights the Holy Lamp of the inner Holy of Holies. 
A Halo encircles the sacred flame; an unearthly Light 
has formed a Penumbra beyond the flame. The Ark 
of the Covenant is deposited in the Temple built by 
Solomon and Hiram in the City of Jerusalem. The 
great Congregation departs between the Pillars of the 
Porch. The Priest of God Closes the Golden Doors , 
and bars the light of day from the sacred Ark of God 
that holds the nation’s Archives , the Law of the God 
of Israel. The Light of the sacred Lamp of Gold 
burns low in the inner Temple. Eli, the aged servant 
of God, is weary and asleep. A sudden flash of 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


207 


Heavenly Light touches the Eyes of Samuel the Tem¬ 
ple Child. The Boy awakes! Aroused, alert, he 
wakens the sleeping Priest. The Temple of Light is 
failing! Eli, Awake! Awake! while yet the golden 
Lamp is burning low. Saved by a Child, through the 
blazing Light , from neglect of duty. 

Still Onward, through the Centuries, speeds the 
wondrous Light! sweeping through the darkening 
clouds of ignorance and superstition, steadily gaining 
ascendancy in power, while Nations of Earth rise and 
fall in Glorious Victory or dire Obscurity, still shin¬ 
ing with a rising glory as the Idols of humanity go 
the way of all the earth. Still Downward toward the 
Eastward spreads the wonderful Light from Above! 
Egypt, old in the science of Astronomy , stands amazed 
and awe-stricken. Assyria, Teacher of Astronomy , 
Bows the learned head in mute and awful wonder¬ 
ment. Persia, with her immemorial fire upon the Al¬ 
tar of the Sun God Mithrates, beholds, with a startled 
Consciousness, the strange New Light in the Heav¬ 
ens. Astronomy is Baffled and Astrology is Lost. A 
Light is rising that can not be accounted for by Art or 
Science. All the Nations of the learned of Earth are 
looking upward! Looking toward the East! Winter 
wraps a snowy mantle about the tired form of Na¬ 
ture. Again all Earthlife slumbers peacefully be¬ 
neath the soft coverlet that the celestial hand has 
spread in smooth unwrinkled folds above the sleeping 


208 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


form. Again the laborer of Judah pursues his way to 
the little home beside the walls of Jerusalem. A Sen¬ 
tinel of Rome is now standing guard at the City Gate. 
A mighty throng is pressing into the famous City, 
the reign of Herod has reached its meridian, the Tem¬ 
ple is no longer a place of Prayer, merchants are in 
the Courtways and the Porches. The Roman Eagle 
has taken the place of The Brazen Serpent. The Wor¬ 
ship of the Roman Deities has usurped the pure wor¬ 
ship of the God of Israel. Men of Judah bow the 
head and bear in silence the brutal ruffianism of the 
soldiers of Rome. Daughters of Judah hurry by with 
a whispered prayer to escape the scrutiny of the 
hired minions of an idolatrous and profligate Nation¬ 
ality. / 

Out in the environs of the City of David lies the 
town of Bethlehem, Bethlehem-Ephratah, least of 
all the cities of Judah. Great caravans are winding 
their way among the Judean Hills. Coming from 
Syria. Coming from beyond Jordan. Coming from 
the Phenecian Cities. Coming from the land of 
Egypt. Why is this great concourse of people com¬ 
ing to Bethlehem-Ephratah? “Caesar Augustus has 
Taxed All the World” to pay tribute to Rome. Com¬ 
ing from the Northern Jordan, coming even from 
Galilee, Bethlehem is filled with visitors, the ancient 
Inn of Chimham is full to overflowing. Never in its 
history, since Abraham’s time, had that ancient hos- 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


209 


telry been so crowded before. Truly is it recorded in 
the sacred Book, “There was no room in the inn.” 
A young couple arrive in the little town from the 
Northern country—two people unnoticed by the great 
throng of tribute payers; as night approaches a small 
stable is discovered, and the weary maiden seeks rest 
and shelter from the great multitude; a Maid of Ju¬ 
dah, with the great anxious eyes and troubled soul 
that were the outcome of centuries of hopeless suffer¬ 
ing on the part of her people. A Noble hearted Man 
is guarding her from the curious. A Roman voice 
calls the hour of Midnight from the Tower of the 
Town. A sudden tumult fills the little town; the 
waiting throngs are strangely excited, for strange 
faces have passed the sentry at the gate; strange 
commanding Forms appear at Chimham’s Inn; fol¬ 
lowed by the curious, they quietly force their way 
through the great crowd of people and halt before 
the little stable where the Jewish Maiden had entered 
but a short time before. Strange kingly Men, whose 
haughty mein and Noble forms were the theme of 
every tongue! and, as they pause before the stable, 
each with a mystic sign looked into the starlit Heav¬ 
ens, and as they bow their royal forms they exclaim 
as one man, “It is the Star of the King of Judah.” 
They enter the stable, and greet the astonished and 
trembling Maiden Mother with these wonderful words 


4 


210 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


of symbolic significance: “We have seen His Star in 
the East! and have come to worship Him” 

The Babe of the Manger! the Child of the Maiden of 
Judah! was the long expected Messiah, the King of Ju¬ 
dah, and the Hope of Israel. This was Shiloh of whom 
Jacob spoke. Shiloh the Prince of Peace had come! 
The Law Giver of Israel! The Lion of The Tribe of Ju¬ 
dah! All Prophecy was fulfilled. This was God’s 
Meaning of the Ancient Temple Worship. The great 
God had sent the Eastern Star and Wise Men from the 
East to bear idtness forever to the King of Judah. And 
as they depart and leave their precious offerings of 
Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh, Behold! the Judean 
Shepherds enter and Worship the Child of Bethlehem 
—Him of whom Angels sang in the presence of these 
same shepherds on that winter night in Judea, Glory 
to God in the Highest, and on Earth, Peace, Good 
Will toward man. The Star remained “ Over the 
Place luhere the young child lay” until the visit of the 
Kings of the East! then vanished like The Ark of the 
Covenant. Its sublime purpose was finished. And 
from this time forth forevermore all the Light of 
future ages of Mankind upon the Earth must emanate 
from and be controlled by The Child of The Eastern 
Star! 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


211 


CHAPTER VI. 

THE MASONRY OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 

We now come to a period of Time that is little un¬ 
derstood as to its literal meaning, and deep im¬ 
portance to the world in general, and to all Masons 
in particular. There seems to be agrowing tendency 
on the part of many men who have been specially 
prepared by nature and circumstance for the labor of 
Masonry in the speculative temples of the Present to 
be content with having attained the sublime Degree 
of a Master Mason, and to ever separate the institu¬ 
tion of Solomonic Masonry or Real Temple Workman¬ 
ship from the present and actual life with perhaps 
the exception of the practice of the grand principles 
that all the workers in ancient Temple Masonry were 
taught to observe, and it is the special aim of this 
volume to show to the world at large, and more 
especially to the Masonic World, that there was a deep 
meaning in the Tabernacle, in the Ark of the Cove¬ 
nant, the Covenant itself in the Temple of Solomon’s 
Building, in the destruction of that Temple, in the 
Restoration of the Temple, and in the long silence of 
the Lord toward His Chosen People from the time of 
the Captivity of Judah and the Burning of the Tem¬ 
ple until the Birth of the Child of the Maiden of 


212 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


Judah , the Child of the East , ‘ ‘ Jesus Christ of Bethlehem 
Judah , ” which Birth was heralded by the Eastern Star. 
I am fully aware that many honest minds may feel 
disposed to criticise this chapter, but I am also con¬ 
vinced that every true Mason will accept the Truth of 
the Light of Civilization of the Light of Science, of 
the Light of History, if when combined with the 
Light of Prophetic Utterance that has been proved 
certain by the History of Time and the Events of 
Nations and Individuals, which have stamped their 
imprint on its undying pages of sworn verity. 

A chain of certain Historic Facts is found to have 
been welded in the tested links of trustworthy Data 
and the contemporaneous proof of other Nations 
which dealt with these people in the times in which 
they flourished on earth. And as History is, and can 
only be, a plain recital of the actual facts involved, 
with positive Data , both actual and approximate, di¬ 
vested of all uncertainty, prejudicial preferment, de¬ 
sire for, or lack of, the appreciation or the approba¬ 
tion of any one, excepting those minds that are capa¬ 
ble of fair and impartial judgment of the real merit 
of the subject, upon a Basis of incontrovertible truth 
which can be proved by veracious Records and object¬ 
ive Realities. And upon these simple grounds of 
Justice to the attested facts we invite the close atten¬ 
tion of every Masonic reader of this chapter of His¬ 
toric Bible Masonry , that he may personally examine 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


213 


the foundation of Our Ancient Order, and realize to 
the fullest extent of his power the Wisdom, Strength 
and Beauty of the divine plan which was drawn by the 
Infinite, not on the Trestleboard of shifting Circum¬ 
stantial human life, as many erroneously profess to 
believe, but laid doivn by the mighty Hand of an Om¬ 
nipotent God upon His great unmoveable Trestle- 
board of Divine Providence. And the heart of every 
true Mason must return its gratitude to the All Wise 
Creator for His Great Gift of Masonic Light, which, 
by His own care and personal supervision, was at¬ 
tended and preserved untainted by the passions of 
men or the havoc of War until the Rising of the Star 
in the East, and the wonderful Birth in the least of the 
cities of Judah of the -Child of Bethlehem that was 
born from above, in whose personality all the Rays of 
interrupted Light were yet to converge, and upon 
whom the Eyes of the Universe, blinded since the 
fall of Adam, should yet be focussed as the One Sent 
into the lower World as its Teacher, Redeemer, and 
Light, and, as a firm foundation is an absolute neces¬ 
sity for the support of a structure of Architecture, of 
Business, of Science, and of Laiu, so Masonry, beyond 
all associations of men, Rests upon a sure foundation; 
and as a solid foundation is laid by the Angle of the 
perfect square of the corner-stone, so the foundation 
of the Masonic Order is laid by the Angle of Principle 
squared by the corner-stone of living Truth, and in the 


214 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


pursuance of this quest we will now examine the 
purpose of the Tabernacle Built by God’s Order in 
the wilderness; we have already seen that the Taber¬ 
nacle was built for the special shelter of the Ark of 
the Covenant, and that the Ark was also built by 
Order of Jehovah as a special place for the repose of 
the Testimony or Two Tables of Stone, which were 
given to Moses in the Mount of Sinai. There was a 
deep meaning in the design of the Tabernacle and 
the Ark, for Paul the Apostle of Jesus Christ writes 
to the Hebrews in the year Anno Domini 64, and tells 
them thus: “Verily the first Covenant had also 
Ordinances of Divine service, and a worldly Sanctuary, 
for there was a Tabernacle made; the first, wherein was 
the Candlestick, and the Table, and the Shew Bread; 
which is called the Sanctuary. And after the Second 
Veil, the Tabernacle, which is ^called the Holiest of All; 
which had the golden Censer, and the Ark of the Cove¬ 
nant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the 
Golden Pot that had Manna, and Aaron's Rod that 
budded, and the Tables of the Covenant. Now when 
these things were thus Ordained, the Priests went 
always into the First Tabernacle, Accomplishing the 
service of God. But into the Second went the high 
Priest alone Once every year, Not without Blood, 
which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the 
people: the Holy Ghost, this signifying, that the way 
into the Holiest of all was not yet made manifest, 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


215 


while as the first Tabernacle was yet standing. But 
Christ being come a High Priest of good things to 
come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not 
made with hands, that is to say, Not of this building; 
Neither by the blood of Goats and Calves, but by 
His Own Blood He Entered in Once into the Holy 
Place, having obtained Eternal Redemption for us. 
For if the Blood of Bulls and of Goats, and the Ashes 
of an Heifer sprinkling the Unclean, sanctifieth to 
the purifying of the flesh; how much more shall the 
Blood of Christ, who through the Eternal Spirit 
Offered Himself without spot to God, purge your con¬ 
science from Dead Works to serve the Living God? 
It was therefore necessary that the Patterns of things 
in the Heavens should be purified with these; but the 
heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than 
these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places 
made with hands, which are the Figures of the True; 
but into Heaven itself, now to appear in the Presence 
of God for us: not yet that he should offer Himself 
often, but now Once in the End of the world hath He 
appeared to put away Sin by the Sacrifice of Him¬ 
self. And as it is appointed unto Men Once to Die, but 
after this the judgment: so Christ was Once offered to 
bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for 
Him shall He appear the Second Time without Sin 
unto Salvation.” Never in the language of human 
tongue will the History of Masonry be better told 


216 THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 

than in this wonderful Epistle to the Hebrews, which 
was written by a man who had learned the law of 
Israel and Judali , who had received the teaching of 
the learned Gamaliel , and who had ample time and 
knowledge which was intensified by a zeal that knew 
no limit to its operative and speculative power. 

Paul had been a Pharisee, and was well qualified in 
the ancient law of God as it was given to Moses and in 
the excess of his determinate and passionate spirit, it 
was his deliberate intention to fully exterminate the 
band of people who had espoused the cause of Jesus 
Christ of Nazareth. And yet in this glorious letter to 
the Hebrews we find the same Paul writing to the peo¬ 
ple of Israel and Judah. The very descendants of 
the Children of the Wilderness. And proviug by 
their own historic Record of the duties of the High 
Priest in the Holy Tabernacle of the Wilderness that 
the Act of Offering by the High Priest of Israel was a 
symbol of the Christ, and His Offering of Blood for 
the human race. And as the High Priest of Israel en¬ 
tered once into the Holy of Holies to offer a Sacrifice 
for the yearly sin offering, so Christ was Once Offered 
for all time to come. This is the Meaning of the 
Tabernacle, and a proper and positive understanding 
of this Epistle to the Hebrews is not a possibility, if 
the reader is not conversant with the facts of the 
Exodus and the subsequent journey of the Children 
of Israel in the Wilderness of Arabia, for Paul sim- 


THE MASONRY OE THE BIBLE. 


217 


ply refers the people to their own historic Past, 
which History, as we have already shown, does not 
rest upon the records of the Jewish historians alone, 
but is Supported, and Proved by the Bolls and Stone 
Tablets of the nations that were their contemporaries 
during the wilderness journey and their victorious 
entrance into, and settlement of, the City of David at 
Jerusalem, the City of Jebusites of the land of 
Canaan. This was the Beginning of Ancient Craft 
Masonry as told in the pages of the Bible: “And let 
them make me a Sanctuary; that I may dwell among 
them. According to all that I shew thee, after the 
Pattern of the Tabernacle, and the Pattern of all the 
instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it. And 
look that thou make them after their Pattern, which 
was shewed thee in the mount.” These are plain 
words that were spoken by the Lord God of Israel, 
and recorded in the 25th chapter of the Book of the 
Exodus. And as a proof that Masonry entered into 
the realm of Earth-life in connection with the Build¬ 
ing of the Tabernacle, it will need but a glance of 
the mind across the vast period of the superstitious 
Idolatries of the Nations of Earth, prior to this time, 
and also to notice the extravagant and often useless 
methods by which the deluded people sought to pro¬ 
pitiate an unknown and unknowable Power, who was 
unknown because he had never revealed His mighty 
presence to man in a form or language that was in 


218 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


the least understood by them, and Unknowable be¬ 
cause the conditional development and physical limi¬ 
tation of the human Brain was such that a correct 
ideal of God was not and had never been intelligible 
to Man. From this plain standpoint of logical Rea¬ 
son it is easy to realize two positive facts relative to 
the advent of Masonry. The First point is: That 
God spoke to Moses and showed him a Pattern. And 
the Second Point is: That God told Moses to Build by 
that Pattern. And more than this: That the Pattern 
was of a place of Worship, and that the God that gave 
the Pattern to Moses and the necessary instructions 
how to build it, was The Lord God of Israel, who alone 
was to be Worshipped. These Facts are very signifi¬ 
cant, and every Mason should study the subject well. 
For if the Tabernacle had been built by any other 
Pattern than that which had been given by the Lord, 
it could not have been a perfect Building, and the 
reason is this: That there never has been a Temple 
like it in all the History of the World. And if the 
Temple had been built in any other manner than by 
the plan of measurement and choice of material 
which God had actually given by word of mouth, it 
would not have been the Architectural Model which 
it certainly was and will be for all time to come. And 
by similar comparison, if a Mason is not the possessor 
of the Foundation of the Order, he is at best but a 
copyist of and from the intelligence of other minds, 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


219 


But the Mason who has prepared his heart and brain to 
receive and properly adjust the great Facts of Ma¬ 
sonry, as they are faithfully recorded in the Holy 
Writings, will conduct himself in such a manner as to 
know that he is living up to the True Masonic Stand¬ 
ard, which is a life of perfect Morality among all men. 
This attempt upon the part of a True Mason, will 
command the respect of all men, and especially men 
who realize that they are all travelers upon the level 
of a common brotherhood of Friendship, Morality, 
and Brotherly Love. And from this Masonic Stand¬ 
point of progressive humanity the Mason should 
earnestly endeavor in all the affairs and transactions 
of life to regulate every act by the perfect square of 
Virtue, and after learning the proper application of 
the Working Tools of Ancient Operative Masonry he 
should apply the same grand principles to daily life in 
speculative Masonry. And such a Masonic Student 
will always hail with ever-growing interest the great 
illumination of Masonic knowledge, science and skill 
in workmanship, for the Great Light of Masonry is 
the Holy Bible — Holy! Because it is the only Book in 
all the ages of Civilized History that Records the Be¬ 
ginning of the Light of Salvation through Christ, of a 
lost and ruined people, and hand in hand came the 
' Pattern of the Tabernacle with the Command of the 
True God. Let the enthusiast wander amid the ruins 


220 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


of Karnac, and find in the sculptured lines a sem¬ 
blance of a square. 

Let the Archaeologist delve among the ruins of pre¬ 
historic Yucatan, and find amid the serpent forms, the 
graceful human figures, the grotesque carvings upon 
the frightful images of stone, the fancied symbol of a 
Cross and Crown. Let the Priests of the far Orient 
thrill the tiny golden Bells upon the beautiful 
Pagodas of Brahma and Buddha. “These be thy 
Gods O ye people” is the legend of Fate, written in 
the blood of innocent children and of tortured 
Womanhood upon the historic page of India, but let 
the honest Mason “Search the Scripture” and search 
in every nook and corner of the Historic World back 
to the farthest record of human Civilization. Let him 
search the records of scientific Architecture in all the 
variations of the five great Orders of Architecture 
from the beautiful and intricate Composite Order of the 
Present, composed of the Beauty of the Corinthian, 
the Ornamentation of the Tuscan, the plain and 
moulded Ionic, and the solid simple Doric Order; aye, 
back to the very days of the Bended Trees and the 
“Booths in the Wilderness,” and he will find a perfect 
agreement between the Bible and the History of 
Architecture. Let him study with anxious eye the 
Wonders of Astronomy , look through the mental Tele¬ 
scope of Hershel, Humboldt, Henry, and yet there is 
nothing known by man of astronomic law to Account 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


221 


for the peremptory Arrest of the Sun in the days of 
Joshua, or for the Backward motion of the same 
great light in the days of Hezekiah the King, and let 
the student of Masonry attempt to discover the divid¬ 
ing line between true Masonry and real Religion , and he 
will find that before ever the Grecian Mythology was 
in existence the Ark of the Covenant was placed in 
the Tabernacle, and long before Cyrus of Persia, 
Darius of Media, or Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian 
reigned in their respective kingdoms, that the Taber¬ 
nacle of the Ark of the Covenant was Set up in the 
Wilderness of Arabia by Moses at the command of 
God. Before the children of Israel were in the 
Promised Land; while they were traveling Eastward 
toward the Jordan valley from the Red Sea, even 
then in the year 1491, B. C., the Order of God was 
given by Him to Moses , and the Order of Masonry was 
instituted in the Wilderness of Sinai with a Charter from 
the God of Israel , who Commissioned Moses as His 
chosen Master in Israel to build a Tabernacle for the 
Ark of the Covenant , which Covenant was ivritteh by the 
hand of God , and by His command was deposited in 
the side of the Ark. This was the Beginning of 
Masonic Worship of the True God, or, in other words, 
the sensible adoration of the great Creator in a way 
which He Himself had fashioned for the use of His 
People, which worship was to be ever conducted in 
accordance with His instructions , and within a Build- 


222 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


ing that was constructed in perfect accord with the 
actual Cubit Measurement that was uttered by the 
Great God in His words to Moses. Is there any other 
Order in the world that can point to a consecutive His¬ 
torical Record of Three Thousand, Three Hundred and 
Eighty-Eight Years, or from 1491, B. C., to 1898, A. D., 
and an Order that is still progressive wherever Civiliza¬ 
tion has opened the pathway for development of Civil 
life, law, and liberty. These figures may be dis¬ 
puted, nay, will he, but positive Masonry, like positive 
Character, rests upon solid fact, and is not at all dis¬ 
turbed by adverse Criticism, which criticism, like the 
Boomerang of the South African or Australian Bush¬ 
man, often returns with deadly force upon the inex¬ 
pert or uninformed who are possessed of more self- 
assurance than sound, sensible judgment; and to 
Masons who may honestly differ in regard to the point 
herein stated, or as to absolute truth of figures or data, 
let me say this, That a careful study of the writings of 
Moses as they are recorded in the Authorized Version of 
the Holy Bible will surely convince any man who will 
read the record of the Great Light, and a True Mason 
will be ever ready to admit a certified fact after a per¬ 
sonal examination has convinced his reason of the 
same;and to the Student of Masonry let me also remark, 
that every step in Ancient Craft Masonry is portrayed in 
the Holy Bible, and that in order to know Masonry, it is 
necessary to know the Bible, and to any man who may 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


223 


glance at these pages of Bible Masonry that is not a 
Mason, let me say to you, That of all the grand and 
historic institutions in the known World there is not 
One Order that can even Copy Ancient Masonry, and 
when the chain of evidence has been completed it 
will be found that every link in this chain has been 
thoroughly tested in the forge of historic Truth, as 
there is nothing which has been accepted or con¬ 
sidered worthy of acceptance that is not fully sup¬ 
ported by the Record of tlie Holy Bible, of Science, and 
of actual History, and so as the foundation of Prac¬ 
tical, Ethical, and Spiritual Masonry was laid in the 
Tabernacle in the wilderness of Sinai, it is next in 
order to examine the Second link in the chain of Evi¬ 
dence, which is the Holy of Holies or Place of the Ark 
of the Covenant. We have seen that this was a Cube 
of 10 Cubits every way, and that the Ark of the Cov¬ 
enant was placed within it, and we have also noticed 
that the Temple which was built in Jerusalem by 
Solomon and Hiram was exactly the same in form and 
proportion as the Tabernacle, but that it was a larger 
building than the Tabernacle, and exactly Double the 
measurement of the Tabernacle in each and all its 
exterior and the interior dimensions. 

This is a wonderful and isolated fact of Architec¬ 
ture, That a Tent of Badgers’ skins, erected in a wil¬ 
derness by a wandering band of people, should be¬ 
come a Model 400 years later, of the Finest Temple that 


224 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


had ever graced a city of a civilized and cultured 
Nation. But it is a positive fact, and here lies an¬ 
other strong link in the powerful Cable of Masonic 
Truth. Again the complete Destruction of Solomon’s 
Temple was not an unexpected accident or the calam¬ 
ity of Battle strife alone. It was definitely deter¬ 
mined, and clearly foretold with a precise foreknowl¬ 
edge of both the time and the manner of its annihila¬ 
tion, and even the name of the Nation and its King 
that would conquer Israel was foretold with a certainty 
and force of description that could only result from 
one source, and that was Divine Knowledge of future 
events, that was fully substantiated by the actual 
result in the final Destruction of the City of Jerusa¬ 
lem, together with the Captivity of Judah, which fact 
was also prophesied in connection with the Temple. 
Isaiah had also prophesied that a Remnant should re¬ 
turn from the land of the stranger in the Second 
Book of The Kings. Huldah had also told the mes¬ 
sengers of King Josiah of the fearful destruction of 
the Temple and the City of Jerusalem, 624, B. C., 
which was 86 years after the time of Isaiah’s proph¬ 
ecy in 710, B. C. Jeremiah! 18 years after foretold 
the same disaster in the year 606, B.C., and this same 
Prophet lived to see the actual fulfillment of his 
prophecy, which was the total ruin of the City and 
Temple in 588, B.C. There was certainly a meaning 
in a prophecy that was uttered 124 years before its 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


225 


literal fulfillment in the actual history of the He¬ 
brews. And again a peculiar connection seems to 
have existed between the Obedience of the People to 
the Commandments of God and His special Blessing 
upon them for so doing, and the equally binding De¬ 
struction which was ever the result of a Disobedience 
of His Orders. There was absolutely Nothing! of a 
chance nature whatever in either the prophecy or the 
History of the Hebrew people. There was simply no 
escape whatever from the conditions which God had 
Ordained in the same proportion, as there was also 
not the slightest deviation from His Pattern or His 
Measurements allowed by Him for the Temple Build¬ 
ers. Thus Saith the Lord, was the Decree that ruled 
them. The Skeptic may affect to sneer, but the sneer 
will fade upon his whitening lips as the vision of 
Terrible Certainty dawns upon his brain. The Restora¬ 
tion by Zerubbabel is still another strong link in the 
chain of Facts , for Isaiah had spoken of a Remnant 
of Judah that should come out from Babylon and live 
again in the City, and it is certainly a remarkable coin¬ 
cidence at least that they did return and begin the 
Rebuilding of the Temple were in very truth a Rem¬ 
nant of the once powerful Lion Tribe of Judah. The 
Silence of The Lord in the midst of the distress of 
His people was even foretold in the law of Moses. To 
neglect The Lord was to forfeit all claims upon His 
mercy and forgiving power. And although the Cap- 


226 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


tives wept bitter tears over their pitiful and lament¬ 
able condition before the attempt to Restore the Tem¬ 
ple, and though all that could be done by the people 
was done, yet God had departed from them, and all 
this misery had been foretold as a terrible punish¬ 
ment in store for a disobedient people, and the actual 
order of the tribal division. Israel first with ten 
tribes, and the Tribe of Judah last in Captivity and 
first in the Restoration, ivas but a fulfillment of the 
Ancient Prophecy, and of the truth of this statement 
there is and can be no doubt whatever, thus adding 
another link of strength to the chain of Historic 
Masonry. The Eastern Star was the first Sign that 
Judah received from God after the Destruction of Solo¬ 
mon’s Temple. And this Sign through Judah is the 
World’s Only Charter of Christianity in this present 
Age. And this Sign is the only encouragement that 
the Hebrews received from the days of the Prophet 
Malachi—the last of the Prophets—in 433, B.C. until 
the day of its appearance in the year that Caesar 
Augustus, the Emperor of Rome, issued the now 
famous order that all the provinces of Rome that ex¬ 
isted in the known World should be subjected to taxa¬ 
tion for the benefit of the Roman Government. And 
in order that the mind of the reader may be per¬ 
fectly clear as to the actual Data of the appear¬ 
ance of the Eastern Star, it is necessary that a well 
determined point of time shall be found which 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


227 


shall corroborate by Historic Events the declara¬ 
tion of the 2nd Chapter of the Gospel by Luke: 
“And it came to pass in those days that there 
went out a Decree from Csssar Augustus that all the 
world should be Taxed” Now, in order to establish a 
definite time by which we may be certain of a sure 
foundation for all the facts that shall follow. And 
vve have but to read the writings of the great Roman 
Historian, Edioard Gibbon , to find that only One Man 
bore the proud title of Coesar Augustus , and further: 
We also find that this man, having originated in a 
family of obscure plebian birth, had, by an artful¬ 
ness seldom equalled, succeeded in placing himself 
upon the imperial throne of the Roman Empire in 
the days of the Beginning of the Christian Era. And 
that he had obtained such absolute control over his 
subjects that he assumed the name of Augustus as his 
family name, signifying sternness, and he also as¬ 
sumed the imperial title of Caesar, the Ruler. 

This being accomplished his next movement was in 
a religious direction, which was to declare himself a 
Deified Man, or in other words a god among men, 
and after imposing upon the credulity of the people, 
he was enabled to extort by a decree of taxation the 
amounts that were required by the extravagant 
Roman Court, and it was this same “ Caesar Augustus ” 
that issued the Decree of Taxation to the now Roman 
Province of Judea , and it was as a part of the 


228 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


provinces that formed “All the World” of Roman 
Citizenship and Roman Government that Judea and 
Jerusalem obeyed his imperial mandate; and among 
the people of Hebrew Blood and Judah's Lineage that 
were obliged to obey this summons from the Emperor 
were the young couple of whom we have already 
written. They were poor people who lived in the lit¬ 
tle town of Nazareth in the country of Galilee , and 
they were lineal descendants of David and of Solomon 
of the Lion Tribe of Judah, and from the record in the 
Bible they were a very peculiar couple also. “And 
Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the City of 
Nazareth into Judea unto the City of David, which is 
called Bethlehem ( Because he was of the House and 
Lineage of David), to be taxed with Mary his espoused 
Wife, being great with Child, and so it was that while 
they were there the days were accomplished that she 
should be delivered, and she brought forth her first 
born Son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and 
laid him in a Manger, because there was no room for 
them in the inn. Luke, 2d Chapter, 1st to 7th 
Verses. Now we will compare this statement with 
another. “Now when Jesus was Born in Bethlehem of 
Judea, in the days of Herod the King." Matthew, 2d 
Chapter, 1st Verse. We must find a perfect unity be¬ 
tween the statement of the reign of Gcesar Augustus 
as Emperor of Rome and the reign of Herod as King 
of Judea, which is proved by History to be One and 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


2129 


the Same Time. In the Time intervening between the 
year 5, B. C., and the year 3, B. C., at which time 
Herod’s career was ended by death, and Archelaus 
his son ascended the throne in his place, and it is 
within the space of these two years that the Taxation 
of the Provinces and the Coincident Reigns of Caesar 
Augustus and Herod must be located by the searcher 
after knowledge of the Truth of the Holy Bible; and as 
has already been stated Reliable History affirms these 
facts. But although this is a firmly established point, 
yet it signifies but little except as a Record of a 
Birth that occurred in a stable in Bethlehem, where 
there was but one place of refreshment and rest for 
the weary Traveler, Chimham’s Inn, of ancient name 
and History that was filled to overflowing by the re¬ 
turning people of Hebrew Blood who were taxed by 
the Roman Emperor Ccesar Augustus “in the days of 
Herod the King." But a very singular circumstance 
changes the nature of the simple story of the Couple 
from Nazareth of Galilee and the Child that had been 
laid in a Manger by His Maiden Mother, the Hebrew 
Maid, who had been the chosen woman of all the 
Hebrew Race to bring forth from her own chaste 
virginity the Holy Being , whose wondrous Birth had 
been foretold by the prophet Isaiah, whose prophecy 
also included the incredible statement that His Mother 
should be a Virgin, a Maiden of Judah, also naming 
the Birthplace and earthly Blame of this unknown 


230 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Child of the Manger. This Being, whose Advent upon 
Earth had passed unnoticed by the World of Men, 
became suddenly an object of the utmost importance 
to all the Judean World by whom he was surrounded. 
The Shepherds of Judea told the sweet young Mother 
of the Visit of the Angel Chorus, and in accents of 
reverent joy they repeated the Wonderful Announce¬ 
ment of the Angel Host, “ Fear Not , for there is Born 
unto you this day in the City of David a Saviour, 
which is Christ the Lord. ” 

And their simple declaration of what they had seen 
and heard was gloriously confirmed by the presence 
and inquiry of the Wise Men from the East, who, as 
they entered, electrified the listeners with a startling 
and wonderful question, “Where is He that is Born 
King of the Jews? For We have Seen His Star in the 
East and are come to Worship Him!” (Matthew, 2nd 
Chapter.) This was a strange Event, and we, chil¬ 
dren of another race, in a later time, may well medi¬ 
tate upon these significant Facts. For, had the ob¬ 
scure birth of this Child been noticed by the observa¬ 
tion of the uncommon activity of a single Star by the 
simple shepherds who were watching their sheep dur¬ 
ing the hours of that winter night, and had those 
men simply imagined that a Vision of Angels had 
been before their Eyes, and that Voices from heav¬ 
enly singers had sounded the sweet strains of glorious 
Music within their hearing, and by virtue of the 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


231 


startling Apparition of the Celestial Visitants and the 
radiant pathway of the Blazing Star. Their minds 
were awed in mute fear and worship. We may easily 
imagine the effect upon them, and the haste with 
which they would travel to Bethlehem and tell the 
story to the assembled multitude. But not only did 
these poor unlearned Shepherds leave their flocks 
upon the Judean plains and hasten toward the place 
where the strange Star had seemed to linger, but a 
stranger truth than this yet remains to engage the 
reason of the attentive mind, and this Truth was told 
by the lips of Wise Men, Men who had Opened the 
Books of Knowledge and learned therefrom the secret 
of Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty, and the very sim¬ 
plicity of their question is astounding in the convic¬ 
tion that it carries to the listener, “Where is He that 
is Born King of the Jews? We have Seen His Star! 
and are come to Worship Him.” Not only did the 
poor shepherds of Judea humbly bow before the 
Child of the Manger, but the Wise Men from the East, 
who had attained, the highest plane of Knowledge of 
Physical Nature, and of the Astrology of the Stars in 
Heaven, within human life, signified by Acts of Wor¬ 
ship and Words of Wisdom the complete and immove¬ 
able affiliation of Scientific Truth with simple Worship, 
through real Faith in Him who lay before them, in 
his Beautiful, Royal Infancy, Jesus! the Son of Mary! 
whose Herald was The Eastern Star! That beautiful 


232 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Star that led the Wise to His Birthplace with their 
Wisdom resting upon the supporting Strength of Sci¬ 
entific Knowledge of Facts , which Principles of Wis¬ 
dom and Strength were adorned with the true Beauty 
of the simple Adoration of the Christ by the Kings of 
the East and Shepherds of Judea , as they bowed before 
the Manger Altar in the Worship of the Truth of God 
upon the common level of the Earthen Floor of the 
lowly place where Jesus Christ The King of Heaven 
was Born to Suffer and to Die, a Living Sacrifice in 
whom every Type and every Shadow of all the History 
of the Past were yet to be developed by the Master 
Will into a Glorious Human Temple, Perfect in its 
physical and mental splendor, and adorned with all 
the rich material of Heavenly Spirituality , ‘ ‘The Fair¬ 
est among Ten Thousand, and the One! Altogether 
Lovely.” This is the actual History and the true 
picture that is presented to the observant mind, and 
the powerful Fact that is the center of attraction is 
“The Star in the East ” that never had been observed 
to cross the Heavens before by any of the learned 
savants, whose Calculations are the Basic starting 
point of the Astronomy of the present. And never 
since that time has “The Eastern Star ” crossed the 
disc of telescopic vision. 

The$e facts are also proved by the literal events of 
which secular History has taken truthful custody, 
and they can not be repudiated or controverted with- 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


233 


out a Violation of the Truth of God. “When Herod 
the King heard these things he was troubled, and all 
Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all 
the Chief Priests and Scribes of the People together, 
he demanded of them where Christ should be Born?” 
It was an open secret, among all the people, that a 
King was to be Born who should rule and govern 
them, and “deliver JuclaU ” from her condition of serv¬ 
ility to Rome; and King Herod was well aware of this 
expectancy of the Jewish people, over whom he ruled 
by virtue only of the Roman Power which had con¬ 
quered the Tribe of Judah. And this it was that caused 
Herod to ask the question that had been suggested to 
him, by the unexpected visit, which he also had re¬ 
ceived from the “ Wise Men from the East ”—and their 
query of the King had been the same as of the people 
of Bethlehem. ‘ ‘Where is He that is Born King of 
the Jews?” Therefore, Herod was troubled, because 
he was well aware that the ‘ ‘ Wise Men of the East ” 
were well informed, and that their faith was certainly 
based upon scientific fact, and that they were able to 
give a reason for the same. The people answered this 
question very easily. “And they said unto him, In 
Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the 
Prophet; And thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah; 
for out of thee shall come a Governor that shall rule 
my people Israel.” This was the prophecy of the 
prophet Micah—5th Chap. 2nd verse—and had been 


234 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


treasured up, in the memory of the people of Judah , 
for more than 700 years. And they confidently ex¬ 
pected a Deliverer! that should be Born in Bethlehem 
of Judea, and not only had His Birthplace been ac¬ 
curately defined, But the ancient prophets also declared 
that His Birth was to be a physical antagonism to all 
the known Laws of natural Physiology.” Therefore, 
The Lord Himself shall give you a Sign! Behold, a 
Virgin! shall conceive and Bear a Son, and shall 
call His Name Immanuel (“God with Us”): Isaiah 7: 
14. This! was the Sign! which had seemed incredible 
and at variance with every known principle of physi¬ 
cal Law; and still, for 740 years, The Hebrew people 
had vaguely hoped for its fulfillment. Maidens of 
Judah had been carefully reared, and sternly guarded, 
because of the prophetic words of the ancient Men of 
God, who had raised the veil of the Future and dis¬ 
closed the coming of the Governor of Judah, The God- 
Man, who was to establish the Kingdom of the House 
of Judah forever. And now it had come to pass, after 
700 years of darkened national life, that a Virgin Maid 
of Judah had borne a child in the little city of Bethlehem 
Judah. And when Herod asked the question of the 
Priests and Scribes of Judah, they at once referred 
him to the written word of the same man, who had 
warned the Tribe of Judah 700 years before of their 
coming destruction, and their certain captivity, of the 
Return of the Remnant, who should Restore the Tern- 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


235 


pie and the City, and of its final and utter Destruction 
and Downfall and Ultimate Triumph in the Advent of 
the Child of the Virgin Mary of the Tribe of Judah. And 
it was for this reason that they answered Herod in 
the manner in which they did; and.the result of this 
was, that the Roman Governor Herod was much 
alarmed, and at once began to question those whom 
he had a reason to believe were possessed of the nec¬ 
essary and valuable information as to the Time that 
the Star in the East had appeared, and as he sent for 
the wise men who had seen the Star, and had been 
guided by it to the place where the young child lay.” 
It seems a certainty, that at least Herod, the cold¬ 
blooded Monster, w T as afraid of this Child, which was 
said to have been Born in such a wonderfully myste¬ 
rious manner, and, they were also told by Herod, to 
return him word when they had found this child. But 
those Wise Men never returned to Herod, and, in con¬ 
sequence of his fear and jealous rage, Herod formed 
the awful resolution to Kill every male child under 
two years of age; and this atrocious murder of the 
Hebrew Children was the actual result of that one 
man’s decision, and it proves tico facts— First, that the 
Virginal Birth of Jesus Christ was a Certainty , as to 
Manner , Time and Place; and, Second, That the His¬ 
tory of Rome will prove the Bible true by declaring 
the Acts of Herod , the Governor of Judah’s Province 


236 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


under the reign of Caesar Augustus, Emperor of 
Rome. 

And now We arrive at the strangest portion of this 
wonderful narrative. The Wise Men were Warned of 
God , in a dream, against returning to Herod, and they 
Obeyed the warning that came from God in a Dream. 
“They departed into their own country another 
way.” The Same Agency also appeared to Joseph, 
and he was warned to “take the young child and His 
Mother and flee into Egypt.” The Angel of The 
Lord also gave Joseph instructions to remain in 
Egypt until word from The Lord should be brought 
to him in that country. And Joseph Obeyed The 
Lord and remained in Egypt until the Death of 
Herod. The expected Word was then sent to Joseph 
as recorded in the Great Light: “When Herod was 
dead, Behold! An Angel of The Lord appeared in a 
dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Arise! and take 
the young child and His Mother, and go into the land 
of Israel, for they are dead which sought the young 
child’s life.” And thus it is a fact! That although the 
massacre of the children of Judea was one of the 
most terrible events that blackened the career of the 
relentless Herod, still by the intervention of God the 
life of the Child of Bethlehem was saved. This was in 
the reign of Caesar Augustus as the Emperor of 
Rome, and every fact is faithfully proved by the 
actual Record of History. And the birth of The 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


237 


Christ! together with His Star, which appeared in 
the East at the precise time of His Advent, was but 
the result of God’s Unalterable plan to redeem His 
people from their sins, as He had promised by the 
word of the prophets. These events occurred three 
years prior to the declaration of the Christian Era, or 
dating Time, from the birth of Christ. From this 
time forward until the appearance of Joseph and 
Mary with Christ in the Herodian Temple in Jerusa¬ 
lem, in the year 9, A.D., there is no further mention 
of Jesus during childhood. But at this time, which 
was twelve years from the time of His birth, w T e are 
told of his entering the Temple of Herod, and, upon 
meeting with the doctors of the Law, He was discov¬ 
ered by His parents disputing with them and asking 
them questions. And from that time until the year 
27, A.D., when another strange sight presented itself 
in the Desert of Judea: “In those days came John 
the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 
saying, Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at 
hand. For this is He that was spoken of by the 
prophet Esaias, saying, The Voice of One Crying in 
the Wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, 
make His paths straight.” These were the ivords of 
the prophet Isaiah, and were spoken in reference to 
the words of the man who would be sent from God 
to prepare the way of Christ, and by referring to the 
40th Chapter of the Book of Isaiah, w T e find these 


238 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


exact words recorded which were spoken 712 years 
before this time. There certainly existed a connec¬ 
tion between the prophecy of Isaiah and the preach¬ 
ing of John, for the time and place of the work of 
John the Baptist, was the exact counterpart of the 
prophecy of Isaiah. There was One Person whom 
Isaiah was expecting to come, and in the fullness of 
time to release His people. And the testimony of 
John the Baptist also proves that he, too, was expect¬ 
ing Christ to appear, but still the Child of the Star 
had not appeared since the Passover service in the 
Temple of Herod in the year 9, A.D. Where had he 
been during the 18 years that had passed since that 
time? Was He still alive? Where was The Christ? 
Suddenly, without warning, Christ appears in the val¬ 
ley of the Jordan River, mingling with the crowd. 
He stood with the great multitude of Judeans. “And 
it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from 
Nazareth of Galilee, and ivas Baptized of John in Jordan. ” 
(Mark, 1st chap.) 

This event occurred in the year 27, A.D. John had 
been prepared by The Lord to Know the Christ by the 
appearance of the Holy Ghost descending and remain¬ 
ing upon Him. This was a Sign that God would keep 
His word to His Prophet Isaiah (41st Chap. Isaiah.) 
“Who raiseth up the righteous man from the East?” 
And John the Baptist bears this testimony, “And I 
knew him not, but he that sent me to Baptize with 


the Masonry op the bible. 


239 


water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt 
see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, the 
same is He which Baptizeth with The Holy Ghost” 
(John 1:33). And John the Ba-ptist still further affirms 
his belief in Christ by saying, “I saw the Spirit de¬ 
scending from Heaven like a clove , and it abode upon 
Him, and I saw and bare Record that this is The Son of 
God ” (John 1:32,34). But not only did John the Baptist 
bear witness of Christ, but Jesus himself uttered a 
firm declaration, “The Law and the Prophets were un¬ 
til John ” (Luke 16:16). This is a wonderful statement, 
for it practically ended all previous methods by which 
man hoped to gain the favor of the Creator . And it 
will be noticed by the careful reader that Christ sub¬ 
stantiated the ancient Lcuo, and declared that with the 
appearance of John the BajJtist came also the approach 
of the End of the Law and the Prophets. And in con¬ 
tinuance of this important declaration, He adds an¬ 
other statement which completely illumines the past 
history of the people of God, and discloses to their 
view a perfect picture of the great planot God, which 
had been dimly outlined through the history of their 
national and religious life—a plan that had been rev¬ 
erenced in awe by the Fathers of Israel and blindly 
followed by the majority of the people, and but little 
understood by the most enlightened among them. 
Christ declared plainly that the ancient Laio of God 
that was given to Adam in the garden of Eden (Gen. 


240 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


2:16,17,) was now ended by its fulfillment in accordance 
with the ancient order of the Creator , namely, That 
Obedience to the Law would bring the Blessing of 
sure reward, and that Disobedience to the Law would 
bring certain punishment upon the offender. This 
Laiv was also given to Noah, after the flood had de¬ 
stroyed all the living from the earth, with the excep¬ 
tion of the occupants of the Ark, which was also built 
according to God’s Orders. 

It w T as given to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and 
finally to Moses, amid the thunder of the clouded Bat¬ 
teries of the Artillery of Heaven and the subterranean 
quaking of the disturbed elements of the inner Earth. 
The Law Engraved upon two tables of stone, cut by the 
hand of God was given to Moses, and after the Ark of 
the Covenant had been built by the special design of 
the God of the Hebreivs, the Tables of Stone were 
placed within it, and were sacredly kept to be read to 
the people every seventh year. Moses by the com¬ 
mand of God had copied all the Law in a Book, and 
the Levites had placed it in the side of the Ark, and 
from the Wilderness journey to Jerusalem, from the 
Tabernacle to the Tempie, from the Building to the 
Destruction of the Temple, the Law of God had been 
faithfully preserved in the Ark of the Covenant, but 
with the Destruction of the Temple, and the loss of 
the Ark, there fell upon the people the conviction 
that they were forsaken of the Lord forever, and 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


241 


until Ezra the scribe informed them of the contents 
of his Copy of the Book of the Law which he in 
happier times had carefully reproduced from the 
original Tables of Stone the people had abandoned 
themselves to the deep despair of seventy years of 
captivity. After the great awakening, when the peo¬ 
ple had made Booths and feasted and worshipped the 
Lord God of Israel, and the New Temple built by 
Nehemiah and his Companion Zerubbabel was made the 
scene of a deeply repentant people, who begged God 
for a restoration of His favor upon themselves and 
their children, but the voice of God was silent with 
the exception of a faint ray of light that Isaiah had 
given in the promise of a Redeemer who was yet to 
Come and Deliver the children of Judah from the 
Captivity, and raise the fallen standard of the Lion of 
the Tribe of Judah , and now the end had come for the 
Temple Service and Sacrifice. There was no more 
virtue in material Works, for the Spiritual Kingdom 
had been inaugurated, and as Isaiah had promised, 
so John had come, and had proved himself “the voice 
in the Wilderness, crying, Repent ye for the King¬ 
dom of Heaven is at hand.” The multitudes had 
listened to the voice of John the Baptist. They had 
Repented, and they had been Baptized by him till the 
Carpenter of Nazareth appeared on the scene and then 
realizing the truth of prophecy in the personal ap- 
pearence of Jesus Christ, John exclaimed: “I have 


242 THE MASONRY OE THE BIBLE. 

need to be Baptized of Thee, and Comest thou to me.” 
And the voice of Christ reassured John as he an¬ 
swered: “Suffer it to be so, for thus it becometh Us 
to fulfill all righteousness.” And “ Jesus came from 
Nazareth of Galilee and was Baptized of John in 
Jordan.” (Mark 1:9.) After these things Jesus came 
into Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of 
God saying, “Repent ye and Believe the Gospel.” 
(Mark 1:15). The result of all this preparation of cen¬ 
turies of worship and sacrifice for the purpose of 
knowing the True God began to appear. Man had 
been taught to obey God through fear of His Anger, 
and the dread of his fearful power from the savage 
Idolater to the semi-civilized Hebrew there had been 
a thread of ever increasing Light. Man had ad¬ 
vanced in the Arts and the Sciences ; he had made won¬ 
drous strides in the improvement of himself and his 
surroundings. The rude shelter of Rock had de¬ 
veloped into beautiful Architecture. The rude Stone 
had been changed to the Altar of Gold. The Idol 
worship of the material and the Natural had become 
deeply impregnated with the force and beauty of a 
Spiritual Consciousness that was gradually moulding 
thought and reasoning faculties into Spiritual form, 
and as the tendency of the Natural Soul was to 
Spiritual disobedience , so in exact reverse order the 
rescue of the Soul from the spiritual results of a 
spiritual transgression must of necessity be accom- 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


243 


plished by spiritual means , and therefore the plain 
words of Christ were freighted with the deepest 
meaning when he declared that though “the Law and 
the Prophets were until John , yet Since that time the 
Kingdom of God is preached, or, in other words, that 
while during the Ages of man’s existence previous to 
the time and w T ork of John the Baptist there had been 
many efforts made by sacrifice and oblation to obtain 
a material Blessing from the hand of Deity, yet since 
the day that the prophetic tongue of Isaiah had uttered 
the prophecy of the voice which now was fulfilled in 
John the Baptist until John's voice rang through the 
Wilderness saying, “Repent ye, for the Kingdom of 
Heaven is at hand.” Since that time the Kingdom of 
God is preached. Christ had not come to destroy 
the Law, but to fulfill the Law. (Matt. 5:17). There¬ 
fore by His Own Words Christ led the people to a 
higher plane of thought, for as Christ was the end 
of the Law by completely fulfilling its every demand 
being horn in the personality of man with a human 
body and a human brain, yet Christ was a spiritual 
being, and was guided in his words and deeds by the 
spirit of God that dwelt icithin his nature. The Holy 
Spirit had descended upon Him , and it never had done 
so in any instance before in the history of Man. This 
was the Sign that John had been expecting, and it had 
come to pass in his presence. There was no doubt as 
to the actuality of the scene, and now it simply re- 


244 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


mained for the future career of this favored Man of 
Nazareth to prove by his Words and Acts that the 
spiritual Being was the controlling essence of power 
both over himself and others with whom He was to 
meet and associate during the remainder of his 
earthly life. No longer in the shop of Joseph of 
Nazareth; no longer in obscurity and unknown to his 
fellow-men, but from this time forth he was to be a 
Light. “The life was the light of men.” He was to 
light the dark world of trouble with the Hope of better 
things. He was to light the homes of the poor with 
the Hope of a blessed home in a future world. He was 
to be a light of health in the presence of disease. And 
He was also to stand by the Grave and light its narrow 
entrance with the Glory of the Resurrection , and yet 
the motive for all this wonderful work was a motive 
of which man had never dreamed. It was because of 
His love for the spirits of men. All this material labor 
was performed because of His Spiritual Love for men 
and His desire to save their immortal Souls from 
eternal loss, and from the vengeance of outraged Law 
by the sacrifice of all earthly honor, position, and 
favor of men during life, and to complete that un¬ 
selfish labor of love by the personal sacrifice of Him¬ 
self that by His physical death and resurrection He 
might save the world to a spiritual life in the world 
beyond the grave; and it was for this purpose that He 
began His Ministry of the Kingdom of God in the 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


245 


Wilderness of Judea. It was for this purpose that He 
laid in the grave on the common level of humanity, and 
it was for this purpose that He was Raised from the 
Dead; Raised from that level of inanimation to the 
living Reality of Spiritual life by the strong hand of 
the Angel of the Lord. And it was for the same pur¬ 
pose that he ascended into Heaven and is “Preparing a 
place for all that love Him.” (John 14.) It was for this 
purpose that God spoke to Moses, and because of this 
same Reason that the Temple was built, that by the 
material, operative labor of partially enlightened 
minds a foundation might be laid with a spiritual mean¬ 
ing in the corner-stone that was to be completed in 
Jesus the Christ, and unless the work of the human 
Christ is found to have been performed upon actual 
rules.and principles of materialized spiritual force this 
argument will not be correct. But if in every word 
and act of the human Christ we discover the principle 
of spiritual light and spiritual force and reliance upon 
God as a real spiritual Being, then it will be easily 
seen that even the wonderful miracles which Christ 
did certainly perform in the presence of reliable wit¬ 
nesses were simply the sure results of His solvency 
of the problem of Spiritual force that expressed its 
power in the production of the material results that 
stand in direct opposition to all the known laws of 
natural life and being. 

There is one fact that exists in all the work of 


246 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Christ , which must he admitted even by those who are 
avowed enemies of the Holy Bible, and that fact is 
simply this: Jesus Christ worked by a Rule , and that 
rule was never deviated from in the slightest par¬ 
ticular; even His Words were spoken in accordance 
with this stern rule. And this rule was the Rule of 
Solomon, the Rule of Moses, and it was used in per¬ 
fection by Jesus Christ. He followed a pattern that 
God had designed. God gave Moses a 2^ttern of the 
Tabernacle, and it was perfect in plan and was built 
upon the principle of a Cubic Square. The Temple 
at Jerusalem was built by King Solomon upon the 
pattern of the tabernacle by the enlarged plan of the 
arc of 90 degrees , or the 4th part of a Circle , which 
was a perfect mental square of intellectual judgment, 
capable of adjustment in any situation of the Build¬ 
ing from the foundation to the Cap Stone of all 
Earthly Architecture of a material form and substance. 
But still, like the ancient tabernacle, the temple was 
subject to destruction at the hand of human beings. 
And it was merely a Symbol of a more complete and 
glorious development of a permanent structure that 
would not only combine all the elements of Wisdom , 
Strength , and Beauty of the Temple that Solomon 
built for the worship of God, but also to add to the 
material organism of man’s inventive and operative 
faculties the real Truth and eternal Verity, and im¬ 
mortal existence of a spiritual Temple builded in the 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


247 


Body. The Soul of the body directing the thought of 
the Mind, ivhich in turn governs each member of the 
human form in its varied actions of life. The Spirit 
of Man moving the Brain by the currents of spiritual 
force to Decision of Will, operates in harmony 
with the intelligence of the Spirit of Truth, and 
the Spirit Soul, the Master Workman, whose resi¬ 
dence is the Brain of Man, is directed in its de¬ 
cisions by the Reason of the supreme spiritual Ruler 
of its spirit nature, and because of this spirit¬ 
ually governed Will, the machinery of the human 
brain is set in motion to move the Visible Body 
in accord with the harmonized Dual Force, and thus 
the individual builds a spiritual nature hour by hour 
until mortal dissolution of the dual partnership of 
Soul and Body dislocates the fabric of the machinery 
of physical life, and the finer mechanism of the Brain 
becomes paralyzed and utterly inanimate. Then! the 
spiritual Being that has resided in the human Brain, 
seated upon the throne of Reason, and directing all 
the mental efforts, expending all its energies, yields 
to the magnetic force of the great central Dynamo of 
spiritual power, and drawn by an irresistible attrac¬ 
tion, the Spirit of man leaves its temporal home in the 
human brain for a permanent habitation in the realms 
of a spiritual World, Where God is supreme! Where 
all is Peace! And where the harmony of Eternal Wis- 
dom is preserved by the watchful Tylersliip of Omni- 


248 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


presence! This is and can only be the Result of the 
Labor of the True Temple Builder who labors under 
the direction of the Holy Spirit of Divine Truth. 
And as Jesus Christ was the first human being upon 
whom this divine spirit was bestowed by the will of 
the great Artificer of the Universe, There is and can 
be but One certain Truth concerning His rank as a 
man. And that is that by the Divine powers with 
which He was endowed, and the implicit Obedience 
to the Will of God, which He ever and always ex¬ 
hibited, were simply the preparatory methods with 
which He was invested by the God of Israel for the 
accomplishment of His all-important lesson to man. 
And by the perfect reason of His arguments and the 
exquisite knoivledge of all things in Nature and in 
Man of the correctness of Theory only when proved 
by a practical demonstration of Utility through pro¬ 
cess of Labor , His faithfulness to the Pattern of the. 
great God of Israel. All these facts declare Him to 
be Jesus! The Christ! The Founder and the Grand 
Master of Masonry and Religion. 

The life of Jesus upon earth was filled with acts of 
power, that were prompted by His perception of the 
needs of individuals, and proceeded from a Divine 
Charity toward All Men. He seems to have been 
specially careful to observe every single opportunity 
of doing good , regardless of the approval or objection 
of His fellow-men. “His Father’s Business” was His 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


249 


chief concern, and the life of Christ was the ideal 
life of a Masonic Workman upon the earth, ever watch¬ 
ful of the interests of the Great Master of All things, 
and with true unceasing labor to devote the life ener¬ 
gies to the accomplishment of that which is enforced 
by duty or suggested by love of our God and fellow- 
creatures. This principle was ever followed by Jesus 
in the work that had been designed for Him to finish, 
and which Jesus performed with a calm dignity of 
bearing and Authority of manner that compelled even 
His enemies to admire and respect Him. And Jesus 
showed the true Masonic spirit when He read the 
Book of Isaiah before the people, as Ezra had read 
the Book of the Law centuries before. “This Day is 
this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.” Jesus was ever 
willing to be tried by the Scripture, and if He failed 
to show proficiency in His actual labor , He expected 
to be refused, and to be also branded as an impostor. 
But, on the contrary, if He complied with the re¬ 
quirements of the Divine Light, then He demanded 
Recognition of the facts upon the ground of Truthful¬ 
ness. “If I do not the works of my Father! Believe 
me not.” “But if I Do, Though ye believe not m , 
Believe the Works! that ye may know! and believe that 
the Father is in me.” (John 10:38.) This was the 
true spirit of a Masonic Workman, One who was will¬ 
ing that his work should be tried. And Christ was 
also Masonic in His judgment of crime: “He that is 


250 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


without Sin among you, let him first cast a stone!” 

These cutting words were ' addressed to the Hypo¬ 
crites: “Neither do I Condemn thee, Go, and Sin no 
more.” (John 8:10, 11.) These words of forgiveness 
were spoken to the guilty sinner. This is a great 
Light upon the inner life and the clear judgment 
of Christ in an actual case of sinfulness. He was per¬ 
sonally above the possibility of Contamination, and 
yet his loving, forgiving spirit was ever busy in the 
noble work of saving the lost. Pure in character as 
the polar star in the Arctic sky. Sweet in his sim¬ 
ple, childlike faith in God as the delicate flower that 
lifts it dew-crowned head in response to the morning 
Kiss of the Sun. Firm and Fearless, Unterrified in 
Will Power as the iron-fronted Ocean Crag that 
breasts the foaming crests of giant waves, and hurls 
them back with the force of the shock of their own 
recoil by the stern, set, immovable solidity of the 
silent strength of Nature’s mighty Barriers of the 
Oceans of the Globe. This was a perfect Masonic char¬ 
acter. Unruffled by the wild tempest of Nature on 
the Sea of Galilee, or by the rude, passionate out¬ 
break of the people of Capernaum. Secure in the 
promise of His Guide, the Father in Heaven, They 
could not take Him, “Because His hour was not yet 
come. ” And again His steady bearing in the judgment 
hall of Pilate was the Symbol of His Kingly Masonic 
nature. “My Kingdom is not of this World.” These 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


251 


words bespeak a Soul imbued with grand spirituality 
and firm resolution to steadfastly abide by the Truth, 
which had been revealed unto Him by the Father 
in Heaven. But the grandest Masonic act of Jesus 
Christ was the raising again to life and strength the 
Son of the Widow of the City of Nain. Christ was 
engaged in his own all-important and responsible 
duties as a man who was a true representative of the 
God of Heaven and Earth. A funeral procession 
winds its mournful length through the city gate. 
Christ sees the curious crowd. He reads the faces of 
every man and woman that compose the multitude. 
He is a Stranger, but his eye rests upon a woman, who, 
with bowed head and weeping eyes, is following her 
son to the grave. Her Only Son, stricken down in the 
prime of young manhood, the Pillar of Strength for 
his mother in her declining years. The strong 
Column of her dependence was broken, and her feeble, 
trembling form was crushed with the weight of a 
great sorrow. 

“The only Son of his Mother, and She was a Widoio 
(Luke 7:12.) Christ saw the silent agony of the 
widowed Mother, and His great loving heart was 
moved with pity. She was a stranger, but a fellow- 
being in distress! Could not He help this weeping 
mother? Was it not possible that the Hand that had 
raised Lazarus from the grave at the command of The 
Christ would be again extended in a grasp of Al- 


252 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


mighty Power? A grasp that should raise that 
widow’s Son to life and Usefulness? Surely if it were 
possible to comfort that weeping mother, it would be 
a pleasure to this true, loving, tender-hearted Man of 
Nazareth. And the Christ steps to the side of the 
bereaved Mother and tenderly speaks the simple 
words, “Weep Not.” Christ had stood in the home 
of a Ruler in Israel, the young daughter of the home 
had passed out from the circle of love. He enters! 
and says to the weeping parents, “Weep Not! She 
is not Dead.” (Luke 8:52.) So Christ addressed the 
weeping widowed Mother. “Weep Not!” said the 
Christ, and as she lifted her tear-wet eyes to look for 
the last time upon the face and form of her only Son , 
Behold! “He came and touched the bier, and they 
that bare him stood still, and He said, Young Man! 
I say unto thee, Arise!” This is the grandest oppor¬ 
tunity of Masonic life to aid the Widow and the Or¬ 
phan in Distress to help the afflicted in a practical way, 
for while many may condole with suffering ones, as 
the people of that city grieved with that widow in 
her trouble, yet, as their words of sympathy could 
not comfort the childless Mother, so Mere Words are 
of but little value unless they are accompanied by 
practical help , for it is too often the case in this busy 
world, that although sickness, suffering, and death 
are constant and unwelcome visitors in our homes, 
the condolences of many people are a matter of cus- 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


253 


tom or formality, and far removed from real help in 
the time of need. But Jesus Christ of Nazareth 
added a practical value to this sympathy by supple¬ 
menting ivords with an act of real kindness and of 
practical help. “And He said, Young Man! I say 
unto th se, Arise! And He delivered him to his Mother.” 
Christ not only had power, but He also had the dispo¬ 
sition to help that woman in her distressed condition; 
and it is this noble trait in the Lion of Judah that 
should and does endear Him to every true Masonic 
Soul. As that mighty hand of power “touched the 
bier,” and the resistless current of Electric Life 
leaped through the pulses of the dead form, and 
thrilled the nerves with quickened force, and with an 
all-conquering leverage of superhuman strength , the 
Dead Being Arose! from the bier in strange alarm. 
Arose! Alive! from the level of a dead man to the Up¬ 
right and life-abounding condition of a living Soul, 
through the resistless energy and strength of the Lion 
of Judah by the help of God and force of Human 
Will, So should the true Mason , though sometimes 
troubled, oftimes weak in faith, even in darkened 
Soul life, yet he should endeavor, in humble imitation 
of Our Great Master , to Raise the fallen, to Strengthen 
the Weak, to Encourage the faint-hearted, and to 
stand to and abide by the Widow and Orphan of a de¬ 
ceased member of our brotherly band when the shadow 
of the death Angel shall darken the threshold of the 


/ 


254 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Masonic home life, ever remembering that he has but 
passed the ford of the river, the Jordan of Death, into 
the Promised Land of the Celestial Home in the spirit¬ 
ual Canaan of the Promised Rest when Labor shall be 
finished and the Workman called from toiling by the 
Grand Master , whom he served while here on Earth. 
And as Our Great Master was enabled by the help 
of God to raise the hopes of that stricken Mother in 
her hour of darkness that is the sable pall of sorrow 
for every true widowed heart, So should All Masons 
endeavor to copy Him in all our efforts, to relieve the 
wants of the suffering and distressed, always remember¬ 
ing that while we are unable to raise the dead, to 
physical and mental life, still we can and ought to 
assist the living, whether they are brethren of the 
Craft or otherwise, But as Christ assisted a Stranger, 
so should we help all worthy ojies. Still, as Christ 
gave Himself for His own people, So should the Ma¬ 
son be ever ready to show brotherly kindness to a 
brother of the Order, or his Widow and Orphans in the 
time of their need, and to Protect them at all hazards. 
And as this was one of the grandest acts of Jesus 
Christ, the Grandest of Grand Masters, and Greatest 
of Masons, So the noblest monument of any human 
life is the kindness shown “in Christ’s name,” to any 
soul in need of help in this weary world. And as the 
Gospel of Christ is The Gospel of Love, a Gospel of 
Light and a Gospel of Salvation, It is also a Gospel of 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


255 


generous Benevolence to the helpless and needy who 
are alone in the world; And the words of the Master! 
in regard to Masonic and Christian Duty, are never to 
be neglected by the true heart that has been prepared 
to receive the light of true Masonry , as taught in the 
Holy Bible. “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one 
of the least of these, my brethren, Ye have done it 
unto Me.” (Matt. 25:40.) This is the particular in¬ 
struction Qf the Grand Master , Jesus Christ, to every 
Christian Mason; And it is in accordance with our ad¬ 
herence to His instructions that we shall profit by our 
practice in the labor of the Craft , and this is the 
Masonry of the Holy Bible; this is the true Masonry of 
Christianity on Earth; And this is the Masonry of The 
Gospel of Jesus Christ, for, “By their Fruits ye shall 
knoiv them.” 


256 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


CHAPTER VII. 

THE RESULT OF MASONRY. 

There are thousands of religious Beliefs in the 
present age of the world, and every one of the 
various tenets of each individual faith in the Christian 
Religion is founded upon the Holy Bible. The tall 
spire of the City Church pierces the upper air, and 
the deep-toned bell revolves within the tower, and in 
tones of melodic resonance announces to the citizens 
of the town the weekly summons to divine service in 
the house of worship that will be held at a certain 
hour, and it extends a ringing voice of invitation far 
and wide to every ear that hears its silver tones to 
Come and Worship the Lord in His Sanctuary. The 
Organ peals forth the opening Anthem, and the dul¬ 
cet chords of a glorious harmony converts the quiet 
of the great Cathedral into a Musical Rainbow of 
delicate improvisations set in the Cloud land of grand 
and majestic Basic Chording of Pedal and Open 
Diapason notes, Rolling in upon the sensitive Ear , 
like the ponderous roar of heavy Thunder, filling the 
dark ravines and deep valleys, and echoing from the 
snow-clad peaks of neighboring Mountains, and 
blending itself in a breathless Symphony of beautiful 
minor harmonies like the dreamy vista of an Italian 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


257 


Sunset or the soft breath of the Magnolia as it floats 
in fragrant perfumed benediction above the head of a 
sleeping Child. The heart of the weary Toiler is un¬ 
consciously soothed to rest by the caressing touch of 
the magic power of the wondrous Art of Music. Oh, 
Glorious Music, Thou Noble Daughter of Divine Art 
and Angelic Science, Thou Inspiration of the nobility 
of Soul, Thou of whom the Royal Harp of David was 
ever filled with glorious melodies of “Glorious Days.” 
“Enter into His Gates with Thanksgiving, and into 
His Courts with Praise.” Truly David was inspired 
by Music to write the wonderful metric Psalms set to 
Melody by Asaph , the leader, with the triumphant 
clashing Cymbals of Judah , Lion Rampant, Christ 
Militant Forevermore, and the tired heart without a 
conscious effort is rested and comforted by the won¬ 
derful sweetness of “the Music in the air.” The lofty 
pulpit is heavily draped with velvet and gold. Car¬ 
pets of costly material soften the footfall of the enter¬ 
ing worshippers. At last the great house is filled with 
a congregation of varied human souls. The delicately 
fluted columns of Corinthian Beauty and Composite 
ornamentation are tested by the combined weight of 
the crowded galleries. The beautiful Dome of the 
Roof is lighted by the reflected radiance of Arc and 
Incandescent Electricity. The Audience listens to the 
strains of “Handel’s Creation,” rendered in superb 
technique by the trained Choir of beautiful voices, 


258 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


and as the solemn tones reverberate from Nave to 
Transept, 'and the hush of expectancy falls upon the 
congregation, the Study door opens, and, with slow 
and reverent step, the Minister advances to the 
Pulpit and Opens a Volume that is also bound in 
Velvet and Gold. A massive clasp is slowly un¬ 
fastened, and the Bible has been formally opened by 
the servant of the Church, and the Service proceeds 
until the Doxologic Benedictory is sung by the con¬ 
gregation; and then the great multitude pass out 
from the sanctuary and disperse to their various 
abodes, there to comment upon the views of the 
Speaker, to criticise him sharply (if he has been an 
honest man), and amid the singing, the reading, the 
preaching, and the Benediction, there are few that 
really Know the Truth of the Beautiful Bible , which 
reposes in elegance upon the gold fringed Pulpit 
Cover. But amid all the magnificent adjuncts of this 
modern style of Worship there is One Solid Fact, 
which is this: That there was a period in the History 
of the Churches when the Holy Bible disappeared 
from the view of even the members of all the churches 
of earth, and that for a time there was not a Copy in the 
hands of the common people. It was not bound with 
clasps of Gold, but was wrapped in the blazing fires 
of persecution, and of the awful martyrdom of 
Believers in Jesus the Christ. It was not allowed to 
be read in open view of an audience as Ezra read it 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


259 




from the Wooden Pulpit in Jerusalem, or as it is read 
to-day from the embroidered Cushion of the City 
Rostrum; but it still ivas read , and its sacred contents 
treasured in the repository of the faithful breasts of 
its sworn friends. 

And this is the fact that every Mason ought to know, 
that every Christian Mason should be proud of, and 
that should cause the opposing influences of Masonry 
to hang their heads in mute shame and dishonour. 
Because, while Martyrs were giving their lives as a 
proof of their faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, 
and Churches had all disappeared (so far as simple 
organizations upon Bible facts were publicly con¬ 
cerned), Yet there was an Organization that never 
allowed The Holy Bible , The Great Light , to be closed , 
either by Edict of Emperor, or by the puerile fear of 
Ecclesiastical cowardice; And the name of that or¬ 
ganization was The Masonic Lodged ’ The Midnight 
meetings, held by Masons , have been held up to the 
world as a detriment to Masonry , and because of the 
Secrecy of the Order, there are people who claim to 
believe that Masonry is opposed to the ways and walks 
of common life, and that a man who becomes a Mason 
may impair his usefulness, etc. There are those who 
say, If it were of real use it would not be kept so 
secretly guarded, etc. I ask of these cavillers at Ma¬ 
sonry to tell me where The Holy Bible was, as a per¬ 
fect Record, as an Open Book of God’s Law, during 


260 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


the Dark Middle Ages of this World’s Religious His¬ 
tory, through the years of Midnight Superstition, 
which were only lighted by the fiery blaze, as it re¬ 
leased a Soul in Martyrdom for the Holy Cause of 
Christ. Where was the Bible in the Awful Night of 
Blood, Rapine, Murder, War, Death, and awful carnage 
of the dark period of the Civilized World’s Historic 
Life? And the question cannot be answered by these 
people, for the simple reason that they do not know! 
But a Mason does know! and none but a Mason can knoio 
where the Holy Bible was preserved. Beliefs may, and 
Do, abound, but Belief, although honest, does not cre¬ 
ate Truth out of error. But if those who object to 
Masonry because of its midnight meetings and fright¬ 
ful secrecy, will examine the Origin of the ‘ ‘Midnight 
Orgie!” They will find that, while Christian Blood was 
flowing in fearful torrents of human sacrifice, and the 
Church on earth had simply surrendered and begged 
for quarter from the merciless foes of Jesus Christ, 
Ancient Craft Masonry Preserved The Holy Bible in its 
purity and kept the Holy Record uncontaminated by 
the touch of sacrilegious hands. As Judas Maccabeus 
defended the Temple in Jerusalem, so the Holy Writ¬ 
ings of Moses were protected and triumphantly De¬ 
fended by true Masons! armed with naked Swords , 
Guarding the Bible —Not giving up their lives, but 
actually keeping the Bible for future generations. 
And as Ezra wrote the Copy of the Book of the Law , 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


261 


and the people preserved it in the Ark of God, So 
Masonry , with keen sword point, tipped with the 
blood of the enemies of Christ, has Cut the inscription 
of The Grandest Truth in History! upon the scroll of 
Centuries, which inscription, Carved by Masonic 
Swords upon the Tablet of Time and Fact , will remain 
Indelible until the close of Time and the End of this 
World. And the Inscription is this: The Tables of 
Stone, cut with the finger of God , were given to Moses. 
Solomon! King of Israel, Hiram! King of Tyre, and 
153,300 Masons! Built the Temple and preserved the 
Laiu of God in its original state. Ezra, the grandson 
of Hilkiah the High Priest, Copied the Tables of the 
Law (which were destroyed with the Temple); And 
Royal Arch Masons know that this Copy was never lost! 
Judas Maccabeus fought in defense of The Holy Book 
until the destruction of Judah as a people, and his 
own glorious Masonic Death in the cause of Judah 
paralyzed the efforts of the multitudes of the people. 
Still the Holy Writings were kept and Guarded by men 
who were devoted to that purpose , Until The Christ! 
appeared The Lion of Judah, Who emphasized His 
Authority in every tested instance by saying, “It is 
Written ,” and “The Scripture cannot be Broken.” 
And when by the marvelous plan of the God of 
Israel, Judah, and the Universe of Worlds, Christ 
was Crucified upon the Cross, and the little band of 
trembling disciples fled and gazed upon Him in tear- 


262 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


ful loneliness, While Saul was persecuting the 
Churches, While Titus ploughed the Temple Site in 
the year 70, A. D., and “Not One Stone remained 
upon another” as Christ had said, Still the ancient 
Holy Writings were sacredly guarded , and when as 
Herod failed to find the Child of the Eastern Star by 
even the awful massacre of the Hebrew Children, 
So the Holy Writings were never destroyed either in 
the persecution and Burning of the Records, the Wars 
by Domitian or by the polite yet not less guilty policy of 
Constantine, who, in his exalted position of Emperor 
of Rome, Unified Church and State, and changed the 
Seventh Day Sabbath of God to the First Day Sunday 
of Constantine, because of his weak desire to please 
the mass of his people, and thus to prolong his 
reign. But still the Holy Book of God's Law was kept 
when the Church at Jerusalem and the Gentile Church 
at Antioch were merged in the Great Roman Church 
of Constantine. There were determined men who 
had Banded themselves together as did the Jews with 
Nehemiah to clear away the Rubbish and to Keep the Holy 
Writings. These men met at midnight on the tops of the 
highest Hills , and at times in the deepest Valleys. 
They were well protected on every hand by members of 
their own band who were tried and true. They erected 
Altars , and laid upon the altars a Copy of The Book of 
The Law of God, which is now called the Holy Bible! 
These meetings were held near the Moon’s perihelion, 



THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


263 


and were never allowed to be disturbed, because of 
the Vigilance of their guards while at Worship, and 
the secret determination which marked their acts and 
words among their fellow-men. These men were 
Christian Masons , and their successors during the cen¬ 
turies that have since passed have remained true and 
steadfast to the first Written Law of the Most High 
God. The Book of Constitutions! Guarded by the Naked 
Sword is an emblem of the determination to forever 
resist, even to the death, any and all attempts at de¬ 
viation from the Original Laic , in spite of all the so- 
called Revisions, of Interested partisans in direct op¬ 
position to the inspired word of the Grand Master, 
Jesus Christ, who has firmly declared in the closing 
words of the Great Light of Masonry , the Holy Bible , 
“I, Jesus, have sent mine Angel to testify unto you 
these things! I am the Root and the offspring of 
David. For I testify unto every man that heareth 
the words of the prophecy of This Book! If any man 
shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him 
the plagues that are written in this Book. And if any 
man shall take away from the words of The Book of 
this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of 
The Book of Life! and out of The Holy City, and 
from the things which are written in this Book. He 
which testifieth these things saith, Surely, I Come 
Quickly. Amen. Even so. Come Lord Jesus. The 
Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ Be With You All. 


264 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Amen.” Aye! Masons , Amen! So mote it be. (Rev. 
22:16-21 inclusive.) It is The Holy Bible that is the 
Mason’s Jeiuel. And It is the Care Entrusted to the 
Masons of the past, and the Fact! which is^ indisputa¬ 
ble according to Historic Verity is This: That the All- 
Wise Creator in His own foreknowledge of human 
events, Gave Masonry to Moses in the measurements 
of Geometric perfection which He commanded in the 
construction of the Tabernacle, and that Operative 
Masonry was Given to Solomon in the plan and God- 
given instruction which fashioned the Strength and 
Beauty of The Temple, through the Wisdom which 
God had given Solomon in answer to his special 
prayer. And Speculative Masonry was Demonstrated 
by Christ in Word and Act while upon Earth. Solo¬ 
mon was quoted by Christ as a great personage, and 
yet The Bible Records these words: “Behold! A 
greater than Solomon is here.” Christ fulfilled the 
Type foreshadowed by Solomon as a Builder of Ma¬ 
terial Things. Christ Built His Kingdom and Called 
His Disciples by personal Work. The Destruction of 
the Temple and loss of the Ark and the Law of God, 
simply typefied the Crucifixion of Christ the Human 
Destruction of the Great Master and Teacher in 
Israel. The Restoration under Nehemiah and Joshua 
was a type of the Resurrection of the Christ, after 
seeming ruin and Destruction had removed Him from 
Earth life among men. And the grand prophecy of 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


265 


Isaiah of the Coming Kingdom and the Glorious 
King, “Behold a King shall Reign in Righteous¬ 
ness” (Isaiah 32:1) is a Type of the glorious future! for 
Christ himself hath said that He will Come to Earth 
again, and that He will separate the wicked from 
among the just. “And then shall appear the Sign of 
the Son of Man in Heaven.” (We must remember 
that the Sign given the Wise Men from the East! was 
the Blazing Star!) “And they shall see the Son of 
Man Coming in the clouds of Heaven, with power, and 
great Glory. And He shall Send His Angels with a 
great sound of a Trumpet. And they shall gather 
together His Elect from the four Winds from one end 
of Heaven to the other.” (Matt. 24:30,31.) Christ, 
the Child of the Eastern Star , was born according to 
prophecy of men who received their information from 
the God of Israel. He lived and labored and died in 
perfect accord with the divine plan of God in the sal¬ 
vation of a ruined race, for as the ancient people of 
God were ruined by their disobedience of His Law, 
so Man, in all the varied ramifications of the human 
family, had become involved in the general loss and 
Destruction of Soul in a spiritual sense. And as the 
prophet Isaiah had told of a Coming Deliverer in the 
great Messiah of the Lion Tribe of Judah, So Christ, 
the Lion of Judah, by virtue of His Complete Tri¬ 
umph of the Resurrection, has won the spiritual de¬ 
liverance of the Soul of Man from the state of dark- 


266 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


ness of the natural mental powers. And as The Book 
of the Law of God was sacredly guarded by the tribe 
of Levi, even during the darkness of Captivity in 
Babylon, and the constant attempts on the part of the 
King to force the Hebrews to worship the Idol God of 
the Assyrians, So the Holy Writings have ever been 
X^rotected during the awful days of the Inquisition, 
the Horrors of religious fanaticism, the Infidelity of 
the Age of Reason, in the days of Robespierre and 
Voltaire, and down to the present so-called Liberal 
Age! An Age that is so very Liberal! that it seems 
perfectly willing to part with the Ancient Record of 
Divine Inspiration for the more convenient and less 
binding “ Revisions ” of The Word, which Revisions 
are controlled by Priestcraft, and are capable of and 
liable to still further “Revisions,” from time to time, 
until at last the Original! is entirely lost in the rub¬ 
bish of a false and modern Ideal of God that is as far 
removed from the real Truth as the Heavens are above 
the Earth. 

Again I repeat that among the doubts and specula¬ 
tions concerning the Bible, that like as the Ancient 
Prophets were firm in their knowledge of God and 
faith in the Coming Messiah, so the Mason To-day, if 
he be a True Enlightened Mason, Stands firmly for 
God and the Holy Bible, and there is a deep significance 
in every Masonic Burial Service, as the Holy Writings, 
borne by the oldest Mason in the Lodge, is placed in 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


267 


the special and sheltered point of protection, which 
is guaranteed by the naked Sword of the brother Mason , 
who is a faithful Companion , for as the Ark of God 
in ancient days was protected by the special Tribe 
of Levites, whose duty it was to ever defend the sacred 
Book of the Law of the God of Israel, so in the present 
age the Holy Bible is the special care of the special 
Organization of Masonry , and every Mason is in duty 
bound to defend its material safety, and to folloiv its 
divine instructions while laboring in the earthly Tem¬ 
ple of the Human Body upon this sphere of material 
things. And while the so-called Religions of various 
Sects may war and dispute in factional debate which 
can never be satisfactorily settled, and while some 
will even dare to change the real Word of God for a 
human interpretation thereof, and forget the plain 
words of the Holy Bible in regard to such a course, 
“knowing this first that No prophecy of the Scrip¬ 
ture is of any private interpretation , for the prophecy 
came not in old time by the Will of God, But Holy 
Men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy 
Ghost.” These plain words are found in II. Peter 
1:20, 21, and they are simply unansioerable, because 
they are true , and it is a fact well worthy of recording 
that Masonry never changes; the Temple Worker of the 
19th Century must labor in the same way as did his 
predecessor of 3,000 years ago, and the spiritual in¬ 
structions and their tremendous impressions upon 


268 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


the human mind are identical with the principles 
Given to Moses in the Tables of S'tone that were given 
to him from the very hand of God. Therefore there 
is but one conclusion in regard to the Object and 
final Result of True Masonry as it is laid down upon 
the Trestleboard of the Bible through the inspiration of 
the Divine Architect , and though the human instru¬ 
ments of the people of Israel and Judah were frail 
and faulty in their mental and spiritual perceptions, 
and were to blame for the Destruction of their City 
and the Temple, still they were but types of humanity 
at best, and their frailties are still practiced even 
amid the age of Our Advanced Thought. Higher 
Criticism, and the common reservation of the right to 
accept or reject in part or in toto the Literal Word of 
God as He Read it and Authorized it to forever re¬ 
main in the keen warning already quoted in the 22d 
Chap, of Revelation. And there is another fact which 
we as Masons must never forget, and it is that as All 
the Types of the ancient Tabernacle and the Temple 
were intended to represent the Kingdom of God Set up 
by the Christ, and as when the Types were verified by 
the actual labor of the Master Mason of Heaven and 
of Earth, and produced a lasting impression upon the 
minds and hearts of all people who believe the Truth 
as Christ spoke it. So true Masonry viewed from 
a Bible Standpoint, which is the only true and unswerv- 
able position of observance of God’s Law , was given 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


269 


in its principles to man from the hand and lips of God 
for a Divine Purpose , namely, that the stern lines of 
His Holy Laiv should be forever promulgated among 
all men whose hearts were willing to receive the living 
facts of real Truth, and in accordance with this pur¬ 
pose of God, the Building of the Tabernacle, with its 
God given figures of measurement, was to teach 
Moses the Master and the people of Israel who were 
with him to abide by the actual commands of God, 
and never to deviate from the smallest iota of the 
divine directions, and the strict injunction of God to 
Solomon at the Building of the Temple was to shape 
the future mental and spiritual condition of the peo¬ 
ple of Israel in exact proportion as He had designed 
in the perfect Temple Building to show by actual 
material results the accuracy of spiritual knowledge, 
and to demonstrate by the perfect fitting of the sepa¬ 
rate portions of the Temple structure that a Plan 
which is controlled by actual Rules is the Only Plan 
which meets with the approbation of the Creator, and 
the Temple worship in its material beauty was a type of 
Jesus Christ, who was to fulfill all the plans of God 
in the complete sacrifice of himself on the Cross, and 
the Record of the Historic Past is plain evidence of 
the spiritual advancement of the material world 
through the influence of the Child of the Eastern Star, 
the King of the Hebrew people by prophetic Birth¬ 
right, and by the divine plan of the Ali-Wise God, The 


270 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Saviour of Man and the Coming Redeemer of the 
Human Soul; and the practical results of Masonry 
from the Bible standpoint are dependent altogether 
upon the Men who are the Members of the Order. 

True Christianity is practical work for the advance¬ 
ment of the cause of Jesus Christ in every way that 
is consistent with His express instructions in His 
Holy Word, and in a practical application of the Truth 
of The Holy Bible we find that real Masonry in the 
purest sense is the strict obedience to the Divine Will 
of God, and a perfect willingness to be directed by 
the Light of The Holy Bible in all worldly affairs with 
all men, and to ever cherish the eternal principles of 
Friendship, Morality and Brotherly Love! and apply 
them to every word and act, especially in our Masonic 
Life, while we are permitted to labor in the earthly 
tabernacle, ever remembering that as the Wilderness 
Tabernacle was the rude type of the beautiful Tem¬ 
ple which was yet to crown the “Mountains round 
about Jerusalem.” So Man in the tabernacle of this 
natural human body is first taught by Masonry to 
realize his darkened state, and by an earnest study of 
its grand principles he learns to admire its sublime 
teachings as they are practically shown by the open 
tenets and actual work of the true members of the 
Masonic Order, and as he studies the subject and rea¬ 
sons from cause to effect, he becomes aware of an 
earnest desire to attain a higher plane of thought, 


THE MASONRY OP THE BIBLE. 


271 


and to fellowship with men who have already com¬ 
menced to “scale the heights” of human intelligence 
and Divine Knowledge of the True, the Good and the 
Beautiful as it is portrayed in the secret work and 
open practice of the Masonic Lodge, whose Great 
Light is The Holy Bible, and in the full consciousness 
of this desire the Applicant for the noble degrees of 
Ancient Craft Masonry is already prepared in heart to 
receive the first rays of Masonic Light , with a firm, 
unfaltering trust in the God of Masonry, the God of 
The Holy Bible, and the God of Ancient Israel, and in 
this Triune Deity the Mason firmly believes, upon the 
Authority of The Holy Bible , which is the Book of the 
Law, which was a Copy of the Two Tables of Stone 
that were given to Moses in the Wilderness by the 
hand of God Himself. And as the Mason's God is a 
perfect Trinity, so the Mason's Bible is a perfect Trin¬ 
ity, the Stone, the Copy, the Holy Bible, and as the 
Christian’s God is also Triune, consisting of the 
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and “These Three 
are one.” And as the Christian’s Bible is The Holy 
Bible, as it is given by inspiration of the Divine 
Being, the Masonic inquirer will readily see that a 
Christian Mason is in possession not only of Faith in 
Jesus Christ, but he is also able to demonstrate the 
practical Reason of the Truth of The Holy Bible as it is 
shown in the pages of History, even of nations who 
have now passed away from earth forever. And from 


272 


THE MASONRY OE THE BIBLE. 


the time that the Great Light of Masonry lightens the 
natural Soul of the honest seeker for Truth , until the 
shadow of the Angel of the Valley of Silence hovers 
over the departing spirit, there is a continual ad¬ 
vancement in the progression of enlightened facul¬ 
ties, and a deep and earnest research for the blessing 
of more light! to know the Past, by the facts of His¬ 
tory and true Science, to know the Truth of the rise 
and fall of nations, to know the Truth of all the 
efforts of humanity to find the True God. And also 
to know that there is a way to learn the Truth from 
the lips of Divinity. And that this Truth is made 
plain in the The Holy Bible , as the Scripture truly de¬ 
clares, “The Entrance of Thy Word Giveth Light!” And 
as a key to the great treasure house of Truth , Christ, 
the Light of the World, has said: “ Search the Scrip¬ 
tures, for they are they which testify of Me.” And 
the searcher of Masonic Truth will surely find it in 
The Holy Bible , for “ He that asketh Receiveth! and He 
that seeketh Findeth! and to Him that knocketh , it shall 
be Opened.” And thus the Mason whose heart is 
properly prepared , who is an honest searcher for true 
light , will certainly find his Masonic pathway grow¬ 
ing brighter and brighter as he progresses in the radiant 
glow of ever increasing light , until he stands at the 
end of the journey of human life and efforts to ob¬ 
tain coveted knowledge, and as he realizes the reality 
of the Spiritual Life, and also that for many years he 




THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


273 


has trod the level path of “the Just, which groweth 
Brighter and Brighter unto the perfect day,” and so 
in Old Age, the true Mason , having traveled Eastward , 
amid the winding paths of life, stands by the Hour 
Glass of Individuality, and as the rapidly diminishing 
sands of time are steadily flowing out to return no 
more forever, It is then that Masonry and The Holy 
Bible stand with him upon the brink of the Jordan of 
Death, and with these faithful companions! The Bible , 
which has been “A lamp to his feet.” and Masonic 
knowledge, which has taught him how to apply its 
beautiful lessons. 

With these true and tried friends the aged Mason 
stands by the river and looks across into the mist that 
seems to hide the Promised Land; he realizes as 
Moses did that his Masonic life has not been devoid 
of imperfections, and that there is much to regret 
in a retrospective view of the Past, still his trust is in 
God, and he is assured that the admonition to “Study 
to show thyself approved unto God,” has been ever 
before his mind and heart while traveling through the 
earthly wilderness, amid the hopes and fears of youth 
with its dreams and follies, and in Manhood’s Strength 
with its pride and ambition, which too often are 
coupled with hopelessness and grief, and now in the 
feebleness of Manhood’s declining years, with the 
weight of many years of toil bowing the tall form 
that was once erect and powerful, and the snowy 


1 8 


274 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


crown of Age upon the proud head whose busy brain 
had never brooked an opposing force, with the cun¬ 
ning science of the hand long since departed, and the 
once radiant, flashing eyes that, like the Eagle in mid 
air, challenged for a moment the Sun in its “meridian 
height,” now eagerly but dimly trying to look “be¬ 
yond the Veil.” This is the Result of true Masonry, 
when its noble principles are correctly understood 
and conscientiously followed by an earnest, honest 
soul, and as the Mason, in the hour of approaching 
dissolution, looks for the last time tow T ard the Eternal 
East, Behold the Mist arises from the river and be¬ 
comes a Vision of sparkling beauty in the glory of an 
eternal Sunrise in the Promised Land of Rest, and the 
failing sight is brightened by the glorious flood of 
“Eastern Light” as it rises in full power upon the 
beautiful elysian fields of Heaven and flashes the keen 
rays upon the darkened earthly bank of the swift 
flowing stream that separates the “Glorious Land” 
from the desert wastes of dreary human existence. 
And as Joshua, with the sacred Ark of God, Crossed 
the Jordan into the land of Canaan in the light of the 
protecting power of Jehovah, and beheld the mighty 
rushing waters, held back by a mightier power than 
man could ever hope to wield, so the Christian Mason, 
with the secret love of God and the Holy Bible in the 
faithful keeping of a true heart, and wdth the honest 
desire to please the great Master in life or in death, 



THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


275 


steps fearlessly into the turbulent waters as. did the 
Ancient Masonic Priests of the Ark of the Covenant, 
and like them also passes over the dark waters and 
up the Eastern slope, still facing the wonderful 
Blazing Light that shines before his new-found 
spiritual Vision, He has now left the material things 
of earth life far behind, and like Paul, “Forgetting 
the things which are behind, and reaching forth unto, 
those things which are before,” The liberated soul of 
the Christian Mason still presses toward the beauteous 
Light that floods the beauty of the heavenly scene 
with a celestial sweetness, while upon the spiritual 
senses there steals a musical Vision as the glorious 
band of angelic singers swept down from the City of 
God to herald the Advent of the Child of Heaven 
upon the earth, and chained the rapt attention of the 
wondering Shepherds of the Judean plain, and 
blended their perfect voices in a Hallelujah Chorus 
of “Glory to God in the Highest; On Earth, Peace, 
Goodwill toward Men.” So they sing in the clear 
air of that spiritual country, and as they chant the 
praises of “Him who sitteth upon the Throne,” and 
forming in “grand procession,” begin the triumphal 
march toward the grand Eternal City of God, the 
company increases, and “Ten Thousand Times Ten 
Thousand and Thousands of Thousands” Raise the 
Notes of “the New Song.” The Spirit of the Chris¬ 
tian Mason is attracted to the same glorious beings in 


276 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


White that interested John the beloved of Christ, 
“John the Evangelist.” Who are these in White 
Robes? and Whence Came They?” And an Angel 
of glorious presence answers the question: “These 
are they which came out of great tribulation.” Ah, 
yes, David, with every trace of sinfulness forever 
washed away; Solomon in resplendent Glory as never 
known on Earth; King Josiah, with happy face, is 
looking on the scene; Nehemiah and Joshua are here 
with Zerubbabel; Judas Maccabeus the Hammerer is 
smiling at a child. Still onward sweeps the great 
concourse toward the Eternal City. The “Eastern 
Gate” of Pearl is Opened by an Angel of the Lord. 
Onward through the streets of Gold. Onward by the 
beautiful River of Life, whose banks are lined with 
beautiful flowers, amid which are playing the “little 
Ones that left Masonic Homes” of earth life for the 
“Father’s House in Heaven,” and like the children of 
the earth when theChrist entered Jerusalem amid their 
innocent shouts of joy and gifts of flowers, so these chil¬ 
dren, Mason’s children, lead the great army of Masonic 
Toilers into the beautiful Temple of the Living God; 
a Powerful Spirit is the Tyler of the Western Gate; 
a child gives the Masonic Sign of Fellowship with 
the Heavenly Temple of Masonry, and again the 
Word of the Christ is emphasized: “Except ye be 
Converted and become as little children, ye cannot see 
the Kingdom of God.” And as the Child gives the 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


277 


Sign of the Cross, and utters the Password of “The 
Grand Lodge of Heaven,” the mighty form of John 
the Baptist leads the way to the inner Court. The 
Children’s Voices fill the Temple with ringing notes 
of Joy and Happiness. Thousands of Angels strike 
their Harps of Gold as David leads the Musicians of 
the Ancient Temple into the sacred interior. 
Thousand of Angel Guards escort “The Hammerer” 
of Judah, while the happy children, led by Miriam, 
sing the great Hallel of Heaven: “Jehovah hath 
triumphed, His people are free.” And with Joy they 
gather at the Altar. The Roll of Heaven is called by 
the Archangel of the inner Sanctuary, a Veil is 
raised, and to the wondering vision of the Masonic 
Spirits there appears a Book , ‘ ‘The Book of the Law 
of the God of Israel,” “The Holy Bible,” “The 
Great Light of Masonry,” and while the Great Light 
scintillates in splendid radiance and dazzles the 
glorified vision of all, Behold another Veil is lifted 
by an Angel hand, and the wonderful light becomes 
still more glorious in the appearance of the Eastern 
Star. Again the Wise Men of the distant past, Bow 
their Kingly Spirit forms as they did at the manger 
in Bethlehem, and as they prostrate themselves be¬ 
neath its rays, the Great Congregation of Masonic 
Spirits bow before the Eastern Star of the Christ of 
God, and while in humble Adoration of the Deity of 
Heaven, Masonic Spirits are offering praises to the 


278 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


Christ. Again, behold the Third Veil is drawn aside 
by the same invisible Angel, and amid the dazzling 
splendor of the Eastern Light appears a Form “Like 
unto the Son of God.” The Worshipful Master Arises 
in the East. The Senior and Junior Wardens are in 
their appointed stations. The gentle eyes of the 
Master rest in kindness upon every face. John the 
Baptist Grand Senior Warden, John the Evangelist 
Grand Junior Warden. ‘ ‘Who are These, and Whence 
Came They.” And at the question, again the Chil¬ 
dren’s Voices thrill the quiet air: “I was a hungered, 
and ye gave me meat: Naked and ye clothed me,” and 
as they chant the words they swiftly pass around the 
mighty throng and stand, still singing their song of 
gratitude and love; hand in hand a loving band of in¬ 
nocence and joy encircle in their loving arms the 
Masonic Friends of earth life, while the Glorious, 
Grand Worshipful Master in the East Speaks in a low, 
sweet voice that sooths the weary spirit as the cradle 
song of a loving mother lulls her child to slumber. 

‘ ‘ Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of one 
of these, my Brethren! ye have done it unto Me!” 
And as the Worshipful Master of the Grand Masonic 
Lodge of Heaven looks with loving kindness upon 
those who have tried as Christian Masons, to faith¬ 
fully serve Him in the dim shadows of Earthly life, 
and He gazes into the honest eyes of His tried servants 
in Masonry and the Cause of the Christ, is it too much 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


279 


to imagine that the eyes which have dimmed through 
sorrow shall reflect the glorious life of the eyes of 
The Master; that the ear, which listened patiently to 
a brother’s Woes, will be greeted with a personal 
welcome from the lips of Our Rabboni! Our Master 
and Teacher from God? ‘‘ Well Done! Thou good and 
faithful servant; Enter Thou! into the joy of thy 
Lord.” And as the feeble hand of Earthly Masonry 
is extended toward The Master! is it beyond belief 
that a Grip will be given by the Grand Master, to 
every Spiritual Mason, together with the True and 
Accepted Word of True Christian Masonry “Christ! 
and Him Crucified.” And with the spirit released 
from all that is connected with Earth and its 
environments divested of Sin, and Prepared for 
“An Abundant Entrance into the Kingdom,” The 
True Christian Mason shall “Sit down with Abra¬ 
ham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of 
Heaven, and shall stand with Moses, Joshua, Solo¬ 
mon, David, Hiram, Nehemiah, Zerubbabel, Judas 
Maccabeus, together with all the Masonic Worship¬ 
pers of God of all ages, countries and tongues, 
ascribing praise to the Grand Master of the Universe 
of Created Worlds! And led by the Chorus of An¬ 
gels and the Children, the New Song will be sung by 
Heaven’s Choir, While We stand upon the Temple 
floor as spiritual companions forevermore, and re¬ 
ceive the Gift of The White Stone. “And in the stone 


280 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


a new name written which no man knoweth save he 
that receiveth it.” And as the full meaning of The 
White Stone is then revealed to us beneath the Royal 
Arch of the Love of Christ, lighted with Glory in the 
full gleaming of Christ’s Eastern Star of Beauty, 
The spiritual Mason will again realize the Truth of 
The Great Light in these recorded words: “This is 
the Stone rejected of the Builders, the same is be¬ 
come the Head of the Corner.” The Beauty of the 
Branch, The Strength of the Lion, The Love of God 
for Man, The Design of the Temple, The full and 
complete Result of Masonry will be revealed to us in 
the clear understanding of a spiritual discernment. 
“Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to 
face. Now I know in part. Then shall I know even as 
also I am known.” This will certainly be the practi¬ 
cal result of Christian Masonry in the future spiritual 
world toward which we are swiftly speeding hourly, 
and the practical application of the principles of 
Truth in all things, will certainly prepare the Spirit 
for the trials of life. Educate and Train the intellec¬ 
tual faculties of Reason and Speculation, stimulate 
the latent energies, which may be in a dormant or 
lethargic condition, and thus fit us as “lively stones,” 
well fitted to adorn the Temple of God not made with 
hands eternal in the heavens. And when we reach 
that home Where all Christian Masons hope to arrive 
when the time of Labor shall be finished upon earth, 


THE MASONRY OF THE BIBLE. 


281 


it is and will be the prayer of the Writer that every 
Christian Mason, with his loved ones of earth, may 
be enabled to stand before the Great Master in The 
Temple Above, and realize the full light and glorious 
immortality of “The Masonry of The Bible.” 

“All Hail the power of Jesus’ Name! 

Let Angels prostrate fall; 

Bring forth the Royal Diadem, 

And Crown Him Lord of all.” 

And to the sentiment and truthfulness of the words 
of this song of praise, Let every Christian Mason, 
from the innermost recesses of an honest heart, and the 
conscious determination to ever “Look toward The 
East,” with firm Trust in God and Love for Jesus 
Christ, respond in tones of reverential tenderness. 

“Amen! So Mote it Be.” 






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